Trade Minister, Todd McClay and Climate Change Minister, Simon Watts, will travel to Singapore tomorrow to sign three Indo Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) agreements.
IPEF’s 14 partners represent 40% of global GDP and account for 50% of New Zealand’s exports. They include critical markets for Kiwi exporters in Australia, Bruni Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, The United States, and Vietnam.
Minister McClay will participate in the full IPEF Ministerial meeting which includes discussions on a Indo-Pacific wide trade agreement. He will take part in the formal signing of the overarching IPEF Agreement and the Fair Economy Agreement.
The agreements focus on anti-corruption efforts and labour standards across the region along with increased international tax cooperation to shape a secure and transparent investment climate in the Indo-Pacific region.
“The third IPEF pillar focuses on increasing trade efficiency. The negotiation of this pillar presents further opportunities for New Zealand to work with partners to reduce Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) and drive greater certainty for exporters,” said Mr McClay.
Working with IPEF countries to increase investment flows and trade will help New Zealand meet the aspirational target of doubling exports by value in 10 years.”
While at IPEF, Minister McClay will also hold bilateral meetings with Ministers from Australia, Canada, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, and The United States.
Meanwhile, Minister Watts will participate in a Clean Economies Investors forum including a signing ceremony for the Clean Economy Agreement to increases cooperation on climate goals by mobilising investment in technologies and solutions for energy, industry and transport.
He will be joined by a select group of New Zealand clean tech companies that have been invited to pitch to the region’s top investors at the inaugural Clean Economy Investor Forum.
“The IPEF agreements and the investor forum reflect a growing consensus that technology, trade, and investment flows need to feature explicitly in a concerted regional response to climate change,” Mr Watts says.
“Workstreams on hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuel are among those already operating under the Clean Economy Agreement that have a lot to offer New Zealand,” he said.
