For New Zealand to pay more attention to the economies of ASEAN (the ten-member Association of South East Asian nations) makes sense, particularly at a time when doing business around the world is tough and when we need all of our international connections to deliver greater value.

Those opportunities are not lost on others either: opportunities for Australia and New Zealand in ASEAN came up at several points duitng the recent CER Ministerial Business Dialogue in Rotorua on 21 September.  So too did the opportunity for the CER economies to share with our ASEAN friends our own experience of economic integration.

What’s up in ASEAN?

As the world slowly shakes off the post-pandemic hang-over, ASEAN economies are delivering some impressive economic growth,ahead of the global average. The region is also itself becoming increasingly integrated. ASEAN has moving for some time in the direction of an ASEAN Economic Community, but the pace is quickening and New Zealand as well as Australia needs to decide whether we want to be part of that action.

What can CER offer?

New Zealand and Australia have been working on integrating our economies since CER was signed in 1983. Today we have not only CER itself but other instruments like the Single Market Agenda, the Trans Tasman Mutual Recognition Agreement (TTMRA), applying to standards and professional qualifications, and the CER Investment Protocol.

Now is the time for us to think seriously how we could extend to ASEAN our experience in CER. Mutual recognition could be top of the agenda. It would be worthwhile thinking about what standards are worth considering for mutual recognition so that product approval in one party would mean approval in the other.  Clearly a lot of trust is required to get this right, but let’s make a start.

Then there’s the digital economy where Australia, New Zealand and ASEAN, with Singapore at the forefront, are all looking to upgrade policy frameworks and capabilities.  In fact New Zealand could learn a thing or two from ASEAN in this space. For example, replacing the vast amount of paper that accompanies goods as they move through supply chains with data which can be exchanged readily and quickly on interoperable platforms can save both time and money and provide important tools for traceability, provenance and security.

Building on a firm foundation

As we look to expand the scope of our co-operation with ASEAN, we are building on a very firm foundation of mutually supporting trade agreements.The ASEAN, Australia,New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) which entered into force in 2010 and was upgraded in 2022, has eliminated a number of trade barriers, put in place some effective trade rules and delivered impressive growth in two way trade.

AANZFTA complements our bilateral free trade agreements with individual ASEAN members – Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand – as well as CPTPP which includes Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore (again) and Viet Nam, and which Indonesia has now said it too would like to consider joining.

And since January 2022 we have another agreement with all of ASEAN and the economies of North Asia in the form of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).  RCEP was established as an initiative of ASEAN but it remains a work in progress – its institutional framework is still in the process of being established with a new Support Unit about to take up its work programme within the ASEAN Secretariat.  The RCEP Business Advisory Council provides business input into RCEP processes.  Liz Bell, ED of the ASEAN NZ Business Council, is taking over the role of New Zealand representation on R-BAC.

New Zealand and ASEAN are joined together on a growth trajectory.

We have a sound basis for this in the network of FTAs which provide an excellent level of market access.  As ASEAN continues to integrate we have experience drawn from 40 years of CER to help them and to embed ourselves even more in the ongoing development of the ASEAN Economic Community.

This post was prepared by Stephen Jacobi, ED of the NZ International Business Forum.  They are drawn on remarks he gave at an ASEAN NZ Business Council agri-business event, hosted by ANZ Bank, in Auckland on 26 September.