NZ, Australia want in on Asian trade pacts
NZ, Australia want in on Asian trade pacts
SINGAPORE (AP): New Zealand and Australia should be included in Asian free-trade pacts, New Zealand Finance Minister Michael Cullen said Wednesday.
Cullen told a group of business people in Singapore that he was "concerned" about being excluded in an investment forum between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, and South Korea, Japan and China.
He said the forum, which is called ASEAN plus three, should be changed to ASEAN plus five to include Asia's southern neighbors.
Malaysia has been a firm opponent of including Australia and New Zealand in Southeast Asia's planned free-trade zone, saying the move would come at the expense of Southeast Asian unity. Cullen said Singapore was "sympathetic" to his government's desire to be included.
Singapore, which is a member of ASEAN, has signed a free-trade deal with New Zealand and is negotiating one with Australia, but no other members of ASEAN have free-trade deals with the New Zealand or Australia.
New Zealand is also negotiating a trade deal with Hong Kong, Cullen said. Hong Kong is not a member of ASEAN.
New Zealand and Australia enjoy free trade and close economies. But Cullen said that even if Singapore concludes a deal with Australia, it's unlikely the three countries would create a "tripartite zone" because "all three of us are interested in broader pacts."
He added that New Zealand was still interested in forming a Pacific Five trade deal with the U.S., Australia, Chile and Singapore, even though negotiations for that pact are stalled.
Cullen said New Zealand wanted trade deals to include agriculture. Australia and New Zealand are involved in anti- protectionist action in the World Trade Organization over lamb and mutton exports to the U.S.
Both nations are major exporters of farm goods and want to reduce trade barriers against them.
The biggest barrier to trade and investment in New Zealand is the "tyranny of distance" and the country's small size, Cullen said.