Who is the new Minister of Trade?

Answer: Tim Groser.

Here is his Parliamentary website: http://www.national.org.nz/MP.aspx?Id=15702

World's Most Stable Banking Systems

As we head into Saturday's election and maybe rocky times ahead for the economy and international trade, some of you might find this post on Daniel Workman's Blog interesting:

http://www.suite101.com/blog/daniel2006/2008

And yes New Zealand is on the list - have a look at the post.

Graeme

More on FTAs

Certificates of Origin
For those of you who are already exporting to China, or hoping to export to China: did you know that from the 1st of October this year you will need a Certificate of Origin if you want to take advantage of the preferential access provided by the New Zealand-China FTA? The New Zealand Chambers of Commerce is an approved certification body. You can contact your local Chamber, or phone 0800 EXPORT (0800 397 678). Also see www.newzealandchambers.co.nz

Is New Zealand the only country so focused on FTAs?
Having just been away overseas I have discovered that we aren't. In September Japan for example has negotiated deals with both Switzerland and Vietnam to conclude bilateral free-trade agreements. Switzerland would be the first industrialized country to conclude a free-trade agreement with Japan which already has agreements with nine economies.
Source: Japan Times 30 September, 2008 p.9

Graeme

New Zealand China FTA presentation

On Wednesday 24 September I attended the final of a series of presentations around New Zealand on the New Zealand China FTA. It was good to see one of you there in Palmerston North and I hope that some others may have managed to attend. It was worth it!
If are interested in China and you haven’t already looked at the special website which has been set up, please do have a look at: http://chinafta.govt.nz/ It is a fund of useful information on the agreement itself, sections on doing business in China and a tariff finder which shows the impact of the FTA on tariffs over the next few years.
I felt that the information delivered by the speakers fitted in really well with the Diploma modules that the New Zealand School of Export offers – it was almost as though the whole presentation was a case study for our course: finance, legal aspects, market entry, trade research.
The speakers were all people who had had experience with the development of the FTA or who had been in China. There was one ‘Case study speaker’ Michael Eden from GDM Group which is centred in Wanganui. He is an importer of Chinese components and spoke of his experience of joint ventures. The company has a large, joint venture manufacturing plant with ISO 9001 grading in China, which is frequently visited by GDM Group’s key managers who facilitate training and oversee quality control. You can read about the company at http://www.gdmgroup.biz/who-we-are/company-profile.html
We were given some useful resources which will be available through ELIS catalogue eventually, but some of these are also downloadable from the website: http://chinafta.govt.nz/5-FAQ/index.php
One useful tip that came through from speakers was info about the APEC Travel Card which can facilitate entry through immigration into China and 16 other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. If you are travelling as part of your exporting, this would be really useful. See the information at: http://www.immigration.govt.nz/apec/. Perhaps some of you have already had experience in using that.
Graeme

Aspirations for Library Week 2009

I have been having a bit of fun with this ALA poster making product which I picked up from "Stephen's Lighthouse" blog: http://www.ala.org/ala/productsandpublications/READ_Mini_Posters.cfm

Graeme

ASEAN FTA with New Zealand and Australia

Last week conclusions were reached on free trade agreements between the ASEAN countries (see map) and Australia and New Zealand. The final agreement is expected to be signed in December 2008. Considering that the ASEAN bloc represents total trade of more than NZ$2 trillion and was NZ's third-largest export market, the media have not really picked up on the deal comapred with the China - New Zealand FTA.

Graeme

China Free Trade Agreement Regional Forum

On April 24 I posted a note about a China FTA meeting which were about to be held in the main centres in New Zealand. I said at the time that there was surely interest in other parts of NZ, and so I emailed the Manawatu Chamber of Commerce. Today we have received notification of a Regional Forum to be held in the following centres in the North Island:

Napier – Monday 15 September (War Memorial Conference Centre)
Nelson – Tuesday 16 September (The Honest Lawyer)
Tauranga – Thursday 18 September (Sebel Trinity Wharf)
New Plymouth – Tuesday 23 September (Quality Hotel Plymouth International)
Palmerston North – Wednesday 24 September (Hotel Coachman)

You can get more details by looking at: http://chinafta.nzte.govt.nz/ and clicking on events calendar. The programme looks very interesting - costs $75 for the full day.

Graeme