Top ministers head off on Asian trade blitz

Murray McCully. Photo / Mark Mitchell

John Key leaves today for the East Asia Summit in Thailand - his first stop in something of an Asian blitz by New Zealand to cement relationships with important new Governments.

The Prime Minister will be joined in Thailand by Foreign Minister Murray McCully.

The pair will also visit Japan next week where the new Government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is settling into office.

After Thailand, Mr McCully will go to South Korea where he will meet new Prime Minister Chung Un-chan among others.

Mr Key will head to Malaysia on Sunday and Monday with Trade Minister Tim Groser, who will sign the free trade agreement with Malaysia.

Malaysia Prime Minister Sri Najib has held office only since April.

This week Mr Groser, a former ambassador to Indonesia and top trade official, has been at the inauguration in Indonesia of re-elected President Susilo Bambang Yudhyono.

Mr McCully said New Zealanders might not realise the importance that Asia has played "in underpinning our economy during the economic downturn".

New Zealand, for example, had a 62 per cent increase in exports to China last year and its economy was back at 8 per cent growth.

There had been a dramatic increase in exports to Indonesia.

Exports to Vietnam had doubled in five years and New Zealand was putting in a "fair amount of work" into that relationship.

New Zealand had a free trade agreement with China, had negotiated one with Malaysia, was negotiating one with South Korea, and the Asean-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement was due to take effect on January 1.

"Those pieces of paper also require some follow-up at both a ministerial and a commercial level," he told the Herald.

"There's a lot of work going into consolidating on progress that has been made as well as making new progress."

The East Asia summit involves the 10 countries of Asean - Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Brunei, the Philippines and Indonesia - who will meet first.

The addition of New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, India, China and Japan completes the East Asia Summit membership.

If it manages to be held, it will be only the fourth meeting of the summit.

And it is the third attempt to hold the summit in Thailand, with tens of thousands of security forces expected to be present in the coastal town of Hua Hin.

Two previous attempts were postponed because of civil unrest, the most recent in Pattaya in April.

Of primary interest to New Zealand at the East Asia summit will be a report on a proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia, initiated by Japan. Mr Key said it had the potential to create the largest free trade area in the world.

TARGETING EAST ASIA

John Key
Thailand, Malaysia, Japan.

Murray McCully
Thailand, South Korea, Japan.

Tim Groser
Indonesia, Malaysia.