NZ’s Parker to attend Pacific Alliance Summit for fresh round of trade talks

Thursday 19th July 2018

New Zealand Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker said he will hold talks with his Pacific Alliance counterparts in Mexico next week to “seek further progress” on a free trade agreement with the four-nation trade bloc, the world’s sixth-largest economy.

Last month, the Pacific Alliance—established in 2011 and made up of Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru—admitted New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and Canada as associate members.

Parker will attend the Pacific Alliance Summit in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, this weekend, he said in a statement, followed by a trip to Mexico City to promote the government’s new Trade for All agenda.

With a new government in Chile, and recent elections in Colombia and Mexico, the summit is an opportunity to engage with new political leaders in the region, Parker said in the statement.

“We see significant potential to promote integration within our region, demonstrate our shared commitment to free trade and reject the rising tide of trade protectionism in the world,” Parker said.

“A progressive, high quality and comprehensive trade agreement with the Pacific Alliance will create new opportunities by reducing barriers and levelling the playing field while deepening connections with all four countries,” according to Parker.

In Mexico City he will meet Mexican and New Zealand business representatives.

“This visit will be an important opportunity to grow our relationship with Mexico and look for new opportunities opened up by the CPTPP and the Pacific Alliance,” Parker said.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade pact signed by 11 countries in March following US withdrawal under President Donald Trump from an earlier version, will take effect 60 days after at least six countries complete their domestic procedures to ratify the deal.

(BusinessDesk)

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