Our 2011 election manifesto - Labour Party

TRADE
Our vision
We are a country that is heavily reliant on exporting. Growing our trade-dependent economy
is essential to create new jobs and ultimately, higher living standards for all New Zealanders.
Beyond our reliance on export of traditional commodities we also need to ensure that we
have innovative firms with the capability to adjust to the new international challenges and to
seize opportunities that exist in a rapidly globalising market.
Labour will continue to support and press for a rules-based, multilateral global trading
system which is accessible, fair and transparent.
Expanding our market opportunities
Labour recognises how important it is for New Zealand to continue pursuing strategic trade
relationships with other countries and regions. We will seek to develop those opportunities in
government.
We remain committed to multilateral trade arrangements through the World Trade
Organisation (WTO) and the Doha round. We also recognise that high quality regional free
trade agreements (FTAs) are beneficial and can be used to complement multilateral
initiatives. Any future bilateral agreements must be harmonised with the best of our
multilateral and regional agreements.
We have seen how successful our free trade agreement with China has been, with the value
of our exports increasing by 50% from its start date in October 2008 to the end of June 2011.
We need now to ensure that all FTAs in the region are of a similar and consistently high
quality.
Labour will explore stronger strategic trade relationships with other groupings of
countries or regions, where they enhance our interests and maximise security and
stability in any region.
We will pursue initiatives in South America, perhaps including joint ventures (country
to country) or public-private partnerships, in order to maximise a southern
hemisphere pitch into northern hemisphere markets for commodities, and combined
research and development for sustainable technologies year round.
Labour will revisit our trade relationships and development assistance in the Pacific
with a view to creating sustainable industries in Pacific nations appropriate to those
nations within the context of the rules of the WTO.
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