Economic relations with New Zealand to grow further

19 Mar '08

3 min read

The Australian and New Zealand Trade Ministers, Simon Crean and Phil Goff, met in Melbourne and agreed to continue to seek out new opportunities for closer economic relations. Their wide-ranging talks covered their shared multilateral and regional trade agendas, as well as key aspects of bilateral trade.

Australia and New Zealand share a unique economic relationship through their involvement in one of the world's most successful free trade agreements – the Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (ANZCERTA). Two-way trade in goods and services has expanded by an average of 9% per year up to 2008, the ANZCERTA's 25th anniversary year, to around AUD21 billion (NZD24 billion) per annum.

Ministers reaffirmed Australia and New Zealand's shared commitment to a successful WTO Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations, and discussed opportunities to act jointly to progress negotiations on shared critical interests in agriculture, industrial products and services.

The Ministers confirmed APEC's role as the pre-eminent regional economic forum and a vital institution for shaping the regional trade architecture. Ministers also noted the evolving role of free trade agreements in encouraging free trade throughout Asia and the Pacific.

They emphasised the benefits that ANZCERTA had brought to both economies since its 1983 signing, and agreed that the two countries need to continue to enhance our bilateral trade and integrate their economies.

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