Prime Minister John Key is returning today from the Apec leaders summit in Yokohama having secured an agreement to start free trade talks with Russia and pleased with progress on the nine-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.He told NZPA last nig
Prime Minister John Key is returning today from the Apec leaders summit in Yokohama having secured an agreement to start free trade talks with Russia and pleased with progress on the nine-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.
He told NZPA last night the meeting had been one of the most successful from New Zealand's perspective and showed Apec was still a powerful force in international diplomacy.
"It's a great environment to have access to leaders ... I'm delighted with what we've seen come out of it," he said.
"We've now got a platform for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) which gives us an FTA (free trade agreement) with the United States, among others, and clearly a platform to engage in dialogue with Russia."
The agreement to start FTA negotiations with Russia includes Kazakhstan and Belarus, and Mr Key said the aim was to seal the deal by 2012.
"It's a very significant milestone," he said.
"We would be the first country to sign an FTA with Russia. They certainly seem to be committed.
"My guess is the Russian government has decided to do what the Chinese government did a few years ago and use New Zealand as a blueprint for developing an FTA, proving to the world that they're ready to sign up to such FTAs and to branch out and open up their economy."
Mr Key said it would have significant gains for New Zealand's economy.
"There's an increasingly wealthy middle class, so it's not just our food products but our manufactured goods as well."
He also attended meetings where Japanese leaders talked for the first time about opening their country's economy to free trade and joining the TPP.
That is in its early stages, with the Japanese government intending to seek public support for the policy.
"It would be very exciting," Mr Key said.
"They are the third largest economy in the world, a huge market already for our goods and services with two-way trade running at about $6 billion -- and that's with some very high tariffs."
Mr Key said he had several opportunities to talk to US President Barack Obama.
"We've exchanged a lot of comments in the last 48 hours and it's been very useful."
Mr Key was due to arrive in Auckland about 9am and was expected to fly to Wellington to chair today's Cabinet meeting.
