Recovery, Renewal, Resilience

Lessons for Resilience

Consider an international trade recovery strategy to harness opportunities in the aftermath of COVID-19
Topic:
Economic
Keywords:
Business regeneration and rejuvenation
Content:

New Zealand has developed a trade recovery strategy to protect jobs, increase employment and drive economic recovery. The strategy is shaped by three key priorities:

'Retooling support for exporters':

  • Provide intensive support to exporters through tailored mechanisms to build capabilities and "connect with overseas markets and global partners"
  • Strengthen online tools and services for exporters, e.g. "make trade barrier portals more user-friendly for exporters facing challenges offshore"
  • Expand tools and services to SMEs through 'NZTE's Regional Business Partner network'

Refreshing key trade relationships:

  • Provide current "free trade agreements with greater 'in-market' and 'to-market' support for exporters" - ensuring better support to an increased number of markets
  • Intensify the existing trade diversification strategy and leverage New Zealand's reputation as a trusted trade partner
  • Further the progress made on free trade agreements, through new negotiations e.g. with the UK
  • Expand on the 'Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership'

Reinvigorating international trade architecture:

  • Support the World Trade Organisation and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation to protect the multilateral rules-based system, develop consensus on policies to support recovery, and "push back against protectionism"
  • Similarly, "pursue new 'plurilateral' negotiations, e.g. The Digital Economy Partnership Agreement and the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability"
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