Prime Minister John Key, Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully and Trade Minister Tim Groser are off to Yokohama, Japan this week for the latest annual round of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings.A range of regional and international trad
Prime Minister John Key, Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully and Trade Minister Tim Groser are off to Yokohama, Japan this week for the latest annual round of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings.
A range of regional and international trade issues will be discussed, with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) likely to be at the top of the agenda.
Mr Key will also visit Tokyo this week to strengthen tourism and investment links and to promote the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
In a release today, Mr Groser said that trade talks in the region are increasingly focused on regional integration initiatives.
He intends to discuss the outlook for TPP negotiations with his counterparts and other interested ministers while in Yokohama.
Japan – the only major East Asian country with which New Zealand does not have a free trade deal completed or under negotiation – signalled on Saturday that it was willing to start talking to other countries about TPP participation.
Finance Minister Bill English, recently returned from an APEC finance ministers’ meeting in Kyoto, Japan, told Radio NZ this morning that countries in the region are increasingly concerned about the effect of their strong currencies on exports.
Japan, in particular, is interested in pursuing a free trade agreement as one way to alleviate the pressure, he said.
APEC includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.
