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New Zealand has reached another free trade agreement in Asia,
this time with Hong Kong, in another sign of how important the
country's near neighbours are becoming economically.
The deal was unveiled as Prime Minister John Key joins other world
leaders at the Apec summit in Singapore.
Key arrived at his second Apec summit and he got second prize - no meeting with the United States President, but a surprise meeting with the head of the US Treasury, Timothy Geithner.
"He's the man who is driving economic policy in the United States, the largest economy in the world. He's a direct ear to the President of the United States, he is a very powerful person, far more powerful than most prime ministers," says Key.
However the United States economy has big problems with unemployment at more than 10%, and America is dragging the chain on Apec's main goal, free trade.
"It's not easy. You've got a president who is fighting a domestic agenda around health care and climate change at the moment. So whether trade is at the top of that list, I think it is fair to say that it's not," says Key.
So New Zealand is looking to Asia. Eight of New Zealand's top 10 trading partners are in the Apec region and prospects continue to bloom.
"Countries in Asia are signing free trade agreements, they are making progress. And we'd rather have that happen with the United States, but it's going to happen without them if they don't get engaged," says Key.
The message that Asia is replacing the United States as the source of New Zealand's future wealth is perhaps put more bluntly by Finance Minister Bill English.
"They have got more confidence, they have got more cash and they have got people who are more willing to pay more for our products. So it will just shift the balance of our trade. And I think it is illustrated by the fact that China has recently passed the US as one of our top three export destinations," says English.
It is illustrated, too, by the limited presence of the US in Singapore so far. But Apec countries continue to free up trade with or without the super power.
The Closer Economic Partnership Agreement with Hong Kong is expected to be formally signed and the details of the agreement released in the first half of 2010, following legal verification and the completion of domestic approval processes.
