New Zealand to hold free trade talks with Japan, South Korea next month
The Associated Press | Monday, April 21, 2008
New Zealand to hold free trade talks with Japan, South Korea next month, prime minister says
WELLINGTON, New Zealand: Prime Minister Helen Clark said Monday she will hold exploratory free trade talks in Japan and South Korea next month — only weeks after securing a comprehensive free trade agreement with China.
Clark is due to visit Tokyo and Seoul in mid-May. Both capitals impose heavy tariffs on New Zealand farm exports. China will phase out most such tariffs as part of the recently signed free trade deal.
"China’s willingness to sign agreements of this kind should be pause for reflection in other places," she said. Business "people go where they see the opportunities and the open doors."
In Tokyo, Clark will hold talks with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and senior officials over two days from May 13.
Clark and Fukuda met when he visited New Zealand in 2006 for a parliamentary conference and last year at the East Asia summit, which came after he became prime minister.
Japan is New Zealand’s third biggest trading partner, with two-way trade totaling 7.3 billion New Zealand dollars (US$5.8 billion; €3.6 billion) in the year ended Feb. 29, 2008.
Since 2005 New Zealand has been signaling it wants to rejuvenate its relationship with Japan, particularly in trade.
In South Korea, Clark will meet South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, as well as other trade and foreign ministers and officials.
South Korea already is a major market for New Zealand exports, including wood, beef, cheese and fresh fruit. Two-way trade tallied NZ$2.6 billion (US$2 billion; €1.3 billion) in the year ended Feb. 29, 2008.
South Korea is New Zealand’s seventh largest trading partner.
A joint New Zealand-Korea feasibility study reported earlier this year that a free trade agreement between the two countries would "bring substantial economic benefits" to both nations.
Work toward a bilateral trade deal began at the suggestion of South Korean President Kim Dae-jung when he visited New Zealand in 1999.
