The government and Export NZ are welcoming the start of New Zealand's free trade agreement (FTA) with Malaysia.The agreement will eliminate 99.5% of tariffs on current New Zealand exports by 2016 and, once fully implemented, will result in a $10 mill
The government and Export NZ are welcoming the start of New Zealand’s free trade agreement (FTA) with Malaysia.
The agreement will eliminate 99.5% of tariffs on current New Zealand exports by 2016 and, once fully implemented, will result in a $10 million per year saving on duty payments.
Immediate benefits will be felt by New Zealand kiwifruit and dairy exporters – with the elimination of a 15% duty tariff on kiwifruit from yesterday and the elimination of in-quota tariffs and an increase in overall volumes for liquid milk.
Export NZ executive director Catherine Beard described the potential business opportunities afforded by the new agreement as significant.
“Now that 95 percent of our current exports to Malaysia are duty free, it’s an opportune time for Kiwi businesses to focus on developing their Malaysian trade,” she said.
“We have a good relationship with Malaysia, and English is widely spoken there. As well as our service exports, which include private tertiary education, Malaysia is an important export destination for New Zealand dairy, fruit and manufactured products.”
The Malaysian FTA, signed last October, built on the preceding ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA but made several key gains, including faster tariff cuts in the manufacturing sector and steps to boost business travel.
Malaysia, one of New Zealand’s most important markets in the South East Asian region, was worth almost three-quarters of a billion dollars in exports in the year-to-May 2010.
Malaysia also has South East Asia’s second largest GDP and is forecast to grow by about 6.5 percent this year.
