New Zealand has signed a sustainable aviation arrangement with Singapore while a supply chain working group has also been formed in response to global disruptions caused by COVID-19.
The partnerships were made during prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s week-long trade mission trip as she meets with officials in Singapore and Japan.
The aviation deal is the the first bilateral cooperation of its kind for both New Zealand and Singapore, and its signing was witnessed by Ardern and Singapore’s transport minister S Iswaran.
“This arrangement is part of the newly added ‘green pillar’ of the Singapore-New Zealand Enhanced Partnership that was signed in 2019,” Ardern says.
“It clearly indicates our commitment towards jointly tackling climate change.
“We cannot afford to return to business as usual, because that is unsustainable. We need to work with trusted partners like Singapore to ensure that environmental sustainability is a core part of our economic strategy,” she says.
The Arrangement outlines four broad areas for cooperation:
- Policy and regulation: Including information exchange on policy positions and regulations that supports sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) uptake and the electrification of fleets and airport infrastructure.
- Industry development: Including the coordination of the R&D, testing and trailing of sustainable aviation fuels (including SAF and Hydrogen), to guide the development of the sustainable aviation ecosystem.
- Future infrastructure planning and provisions: Including information sharing on approaches to decarbonise airport infrastructure and optimise aircrafts and air traffic routes, and a study on the commercial viabilities of developing “green lanes” between New Zealand and Singapore to encourage the consumer uptake of SAF-run flights.
- Workforce transformation: Including the creation of new jobs in sustainable aviation, and information exchange on redesigning work processes and supporting professional growth in the aviation sector.
Air New Zealand, Auckland Airport, Christchurch Airport and the Board of Airline Representatives New Zealand are also supporting the arrangement.
The sustainable aviation arrangement also builds on the hydrogen arrangement, signed in 2021, which lays the foundation for information exchange on the use and deployment of low-carbon hydrogen across energy and transport sectors.
This includes exchanges on low-carbon shipping policy, and on encouraging the rapid uptake of zero and low emissions vehicles.
Joining forces on supply chains
Meanwhile, the two nations are also establishing a supply chain working group to build on initiatives that began at the start of the pandemic.
In March 2020 New Zealand and Singapore committed to ensuring supply chain continuity and the initiative was subsequently joined by a number of other countries.
They also issued a declaration which committed to not impose tariffs or other trade barriers to support the flow of essential goods and services, including medical supplies.
Singapore is New Zealand’s largest trading partner in South-East Asia, with our exports there doubling to more than NZ$1 billion a year during the past 10 years.
Ardern says the supply chain working group will help “future proof and protect” both economies.
“The global COVID-19 pandemic has showed us just how vulnerable economies of all sizes can be to supply disruption.
“Future proofing our supply chain will help ensure these strong linkages continue to grow.
“Singapore also shares our commitment to free and open rules-based trade, and to protecting supply chains without resorting to protectionist trade practices,” Ardern says.
Areas for future New Zealand–Singapore supply chain collaboration include:
- working together, alongside the private sector, to improve freight data and better understand supply chain ecosystems;
- sharing best practices around managing supply chain disruption risks, especially for essential goods and services;
- exploring digital and automated trade solutions which can assist small and medium-sized enterprises in particular to withstand supply chain disruptions;
- partnering in global and regional policy initiatives for supply chain resilience.
