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NEWZEALAND-PACIFIC ALLIANCE-TRADE-TALK
New Zealand to advance trade talks with Pacific Alliance
WELLINGTON, July 20, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – New Zealand Trade and Export
Growth Minister David Parker will hold talks with his Pacific Alliance
counterparts in Mexico next week to seek further progress on a free trade
agreement with the four-nation grouping.
Parker will leave for Mexico on Saturday to attend the Pacific Alliance
summit before travelling to Mexico City to promote the government’s new Trade
for All agenda, the minister said in a statement on Thursday.
The Pacific Alliance is made up of Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. As a
group, it is the world’s sixth largest economy and home to over 220 million
people.
With a new government in Chile, and recent elections in Colombia and
Mexico, the summit is an opportunity to engage with new political leaders in
the region, Parker said.
“We see significant potential to promote integration within our region,
demonstrate our shared commitment to free trade and reject the rising tide of
trade protectionism in the world,” he said.
A progressive, high quality and comprehensive trade agreement with the
Pacific Alliance will create new opportunities by reducing barriers and
levelling the playing field while deepening connections with all four
countries, the minister said.
“Mexico and New Zealand have a strong and well-established friendship with
links that include trade, agriculture, sport, and the arts,” said Parker who
will meet Mexican and New Zealand business representatives in Mexico City.
Mexico is New Zealand’s largest goods trading partner in Latin America.
BSS/XINHUA/HR/1255