Ian McKelvie: Trade is the key to success

Ian McKelvie, National MP for Rangitikei

New Zealand's economic growth rate is the third fastest in the OECD these days, which is something to be proud of.

It's important because it impacts on what really matters - helping families get ahead by providing more jobs and higher wages, and funding the essential services New Zealanders value and expect.

It is no accident that we have the third highest employment rate in the OECD, and we rank among the top countries when it comes to living standards.

Our stand-out economy reflects the ingenuity and inventiveness of New Zealanders, and it reflects policy choices adopted by the Government in Wellington. These policy choices include tax design, investment in research and development, the Business Growth Agenda and our strategy to embrace overseas trade.

This Government is very active in seeking out bilateral and multilateral opportunities aimed at securing fairer access to markets for New Zealand-based businesses.

Last week, we announced progress is being made in efforts to secure freer access to the markets of the wealthy Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in the Middle East.

Two-way goods trade with the GCC, our sixth largest trading partner, is worth over $3 billion a year to our economy. As well as reducing tariffs on our meat and dairy exports, a free trade agreement would offer increased opportunities for our service industries, including information and communications technology, education services, architecture and engineering services, consultancies, legal services, environmental services and construction.

Seven years ago we concluded the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) with 11 other countries. It's a deal that will see 98 per cent of New Zealand exports that enter Indonesia, for example, tariff-free by 2020.

Our trade agreementwith South Korea, which came into force at the end of last year, will deliver a similar level of openness for business, with tariffs on 98 per cent of our current exports fully eliminated over the course of the next 15 years.

We are negotiating another regional free trade agreement called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which builds on AANZFTA. This week it was announced that New Zealand was seeking stronger trade and commercial links with Sri Lanka, a nation with significant potential that is still largely untapped.

The evidence since the Second World War is overwhelmingly clear - the lowering of barriers to trade and investment between nations has made the world both significantly richer, and much safer.

The National-led Government will continue to work hard around the globe to secure fairer access to overseas markets for our people, and for New Zealand-based firms.

It's a win-win, whether you are directly employed in a business or company that trades offshore, you're employed in a local industry or trade or whether you're currently seeking work. We are a trading nation and we rely on trade to provide us with the first world services we deserve and have come to expect.

If what we sell to the world is worth more than the goods and services we import, then all New Zealanders prosper.