Prime minister Bill English is launching New Zealand’s updated trade strategy, Trade Agenda 2030, reiterating the Government’s commitment to free trade.
English says the Government is setting an ambitious goal of having free trade agreements cover 90% of New Zealand’s goods exports by 2030, up from 53% today.
It is investing $91.3 million over four years through Budget 2017 to help achieve this.
English says trade is vital to New Zealand’s economic success and while existing trade agreements have raised the standard of living, New Zealand’s ability to forge new and better ones will play a big part in determining whether our success is sustainable.
“It’s important that we remain an open and outward-facing country focused on creating and embracing trading opportunities, and Trade Agenda 2030 outlines our plan for achieving that,” says English.
“It will see us seek to forge new trade agreements, maximise the benefits of existing ones, focus more on tackling non-tariff barriers, put more emphasis on services, investment and digital trade issues, and work even more closely with our exporters to help them create and succeed in new markets,” he says.
The Trade Agenda 2030 package includes the opening of a new embassy in Dublin, Ireland and a new High Commission in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
There will be a $35.3 million injection to the Ministry of Primary Industries to focus on boosting the value of primary sector exports, including through targeting non-tariff barriers.
There will be $20.3 million allocated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to enhance the Ministry’s trade work, with a focus on improving market access, maximising benefits from existing FTAs and negotiating new ones, helping business internationalise and tackling non-tariff barriers.
There will be an addition $6.7 million for the ministry of foreign affairs and trade to strengthen international networks across the globe and boost the availability of consular services for Kiwis overseas.
The establishment of a ministerial advisory group to ensure the public is better informed on trade issues.
The development of a single point of contact to allow exporters to alert the Government to non-tariff barriers and to get better information and support.
The new funding is $80.3 million in operating funds over four years and $11 million in capital.
