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The India-NZ FTA discussions have progressed to round 7 when a team led by J Dadoo, Joint Secretary, India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry met their NZ counterparts led by Nigel Fyfe from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT). After a gruelling few days of discussions in Wellington, the team headed to Auckland where they visited some businesses …

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) is a “free trade” currently under negotiation between NZ and 8 other countries, including the U.S. The countries want to complete negotiation by the end of 2011. Trade is only a minor part of the agreement. That’s just a clever branding exercise. A TPPA would be an agreement that guarantees special rights to foreign investors. …

Trade Minister Tim Groser has chalked up a victory in New Zealand’s long quest for a free trade deal with the emerging economic powerhouse of Russia. Let’s just call it “China redux”. The smart geo-politicking by New Zealand’s bevy of trade ministers and officials over nearly a decade has paved the way for this country to form a bilateral FTA …

Prime Minister Helen Clark believes the impact of the international food crisis is the key reason why the Japanese Government has agreed to a ground-breaking study on the benefits of a bilateral free trade agreement. Japan has been rocked by escalating prices for basic foodstuffs which has led to prime imported products like New Zealand butter being in such short …

Hu Jintao’s calm face softened as he spoke poignantly of his greatest challenge since becoming President of China seven months ago. “I felt as if my heart was on fire.” He was talking of the Sars epidemic, which claimed hundreds of lives as the new Chinese leadership fought to bring “this scourge” under control. The virus originated in southern China. …

The Clark Government needs to get down to some serious strategy work after the collapse of the Cancun talks. New Zealand is at a critical point. There are strong suggestions that the key World Trade Organisation players will now change tack and build cosy clubs of their own. Their membership conditions – if New Zealand is invited to join – …

Nearly two weeks after the Cancun debacle the full extent of this latest crisis in global governance is starting to sink in. It is too early to say with confidence that the historic new G21 coalition of developing countries that Brazil has stitched together will become a permanent force in World Trade Organisation politics, ending the effective duopoly of the …

CANCUN – Amid the wreckage of world trade talks last night New Zealand’s negotiating minister, Jim Sutton, refused to play the blame game. The failure was a “collective disgrace”, he said. But there was still sufficient meat on the bones of a draft negotiating framework to give him comfort New Zealand’s interests would not be harmed immediately. The European Union …

The fight against global terrorism has emerged as a major business issue at Apec. The issues are intricate – even at the geo-political level, where presidents and prime ministers from the 21 Asia-Pacific economies of Apec clearly hold sway. But the links between security and trade – added to this year’s formal leaders’ agenda – are now finely drawn. Global …

 Shanghai Prime Minister Helen Clark’s strong backing for the American war on terrorism won her and New Zealand new respect at the Apec conference. After just four days at Shanghai, she is now looking like an emerging Asia-Pacific leader and power player. She has shed, in United States eyes, her image as a flinty anti-American academic and joined the ranks …