-
Related
New Prime Minister John Key says the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting he is to attend in Peru will give him the chance to push New Zealand's case for improved trade access to world markets.
Key leaves for the Apec summit on Thursday afternoon, a little over 24 hours after being sworn in as prime minister. There he will meet with the likes of US President George Bush, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the leaders of China and Japan.
Key says the meeting is a wonderful opportunity to push New Zealand's case for trade.
The Prime Minister says at a time where domestic economies are under threat, New Zealand needs to be in a position where it can ensure greater access for our goods.
Key says it is important people don't retreat too much from trade at these times.
Leaders will meet in Peru's fortified defence ministry and 39,000 police will patrol the coastal capital Lima to prevent an attack by the left-wing Shining Path insurgency, which has struck four times since last month in the Andean highlands.
Regional trade zones
One idea gaining traction ahead of the meeting is to forge a
regional free-trade zone from existing bilateral pacts of Apec's 21
members, a diverse lot that also includes Russia, Mexico,
Australia, Canada and Indonesia.
Leaders of the world's biggest economies last week called for rapid
economic stimulus packages to stabilize financial markets and for
new efforts to reach a global free trade deal.
Leaders of the Apec countries, which together account for more than
half of global economic output, will use the summit to push again
for a deal under the so-called Doha round of world trade
talks.
Despite repeated calls for a deal, the trade talks have lurched
from one crisis to another over the past seven years, so Apec
leaders may also try to move along regional or bilateral
agreements.
Canada's trade minister, Stockwell Day, says his government
supports "trade liberalisation through the World Trade Organisation
and through regional and bilateral agreements."
An Apec free trade deal would take several years to seal and
regional trade pacts may not be a priority for US President-elect
Barack Obama. But a regional agreement could be easier to reach
because it would not include India, Brazil and the European
Union.
Financial crisis
The heads of state will issue a statement on the international
financial crisis at the end of their two-day summit on
Sunday.
Nine of the Apec members also belong to the G20 group of leading
economies which last week agreed to take fiscal stimulus measures
to stave off a deep recession.
The G20 nations said the International Monetary Fund needs more
money to help emerging economies through the global crisis, and
also promised a review of accounting standards, credit rating
agencies and risky derivatives trading.
But specific measures were not announced and some tough decisions
will be left until after Obama takes power in January.
Patricia Haslach, the US ambassador to Apec, says the Peru meeting
will mainly push for advances on trade talks, leaving bigger
financial issues to a more global forum.
"(The G20) was focused on the financial situation. Apec is going to
be focusing on the trade side," she says.
Some small countries dependent on export revenues fear that big
economies, faced with recession, will turn inward. They want Apec
members to go further than the G20, which agreed to avoid raising
trade barriers over the next 12 months.
"What worries me is that despite what the G20 says, it doesn't have
the heart or mind to understand how the problems of protectionism
and state-centered development would affect us," Peruvian President
Alan Garcia said.
Peru's economy has grown for seven years, helped by China's
voracious appetite for the Andean country's copper, zinc and iron
ore. The two countries will announce they have reached a bilateral
trade deal at the Apec meeting this weekend.
