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Speech to open of NZ-Dubai Business Seminar


Rt Hon John Key

Prime Minister


26 April 2015

Speech to open of NZ-Dubai Business Seminar at the Dubai Chamber of Commerce

It’s a pleasure to be with you here in Dubai this morning to open this business seminar.

And I’d like to thank the Dubai Chamber of Commerce for hosting this event today.

As you may be aware, I arrived in Dubai last night after attending significant war commemorations in Turkey.

Today marks the beginning of my visit to several Gulf States, and I’d like to thank you for the warm welcome I’ve received.

I’ve wanted to travel to the Gulf States for some time because they are increasingly important economic, political and security partners for New Zealand.

Today I have with me a delegation of senior business leaders from New Zealand who are either already doing business in the Gulf or actively looking to build a presence here.

Building relationships is vital, so I’m looking forward to seeing my counterparts over the next few days and also meeting senior business leaders.

The primary focus of my visit is the economic and trade relationship although I will be discussing other issues along the way too.

When I look at New Zealand’s economic and trade relationship with the Gulf States I see enormous potential to expand and deepen our links.

We come from very different places.

New Zealand is a green, island nation at the bottom of the South Pacific Ocean renowned for its world class agricultural production and food.

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The Gulf States are economic powerhouses in the Middle East and world class energy producers.

While our economies are different - and we would say complementary - one thing we have in common is that we both rely on trade.

Today presents a fantastic opportunity to highlight the strong business connections between New Zealand and the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the many opportunities for New Zealand to grow our economic and political relationship with this important region.

The GCC countries are among the wealthiest in the world and are home to around 50 million people.

Collectively, the GCC is New Zealand’s fifth largest export destination with goods exports worth $1.9 billion in 2014.

But our governments have agreed that we want to do more to take that to the next level.

For our part, we have a Gulf Cooperation Council strategy which lays out our plans for further developing strong government and private sector relationships with the GCC.

The three key goals of this five-year strategy are to build strong and enduring political relationships, to expand trade and economic relationships and to enhance our connectivity with the region.

Although we have been engaging with the Gulf States over many years, this strategy is a starting point for deeper, more complementary linkages.

We’re also investing in more Government resources in the region.

For example, tomorrow I will open an expanded NZ Consulate General in Dubai which reflects the growth in the number of NZ companies seeking to do business here.

Within the GCC, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are priority markets for New Zealand.

Our current trade is dominated by goods that you would expect, such as energy and agriculture.

Our dairy products make up the vast bulk of what we send to this region, and in turn New Zealand imports a lot of oil from here.

We are justifiably proud of the success that New Zealand food and agricultural technology firms are enjoying here.

New Zealand has been exporting dairy and meat to this region for more than 30 years, but over recent years our food and beverage offering has grown and changed significantly.

On supermarket shelves here today, you might find Whittaker’s Chocolate, Phoenix Organics, Tegel chicken and Comvita products from New Zealand.

Many others supply meat, seafood and specialist ingredients to hotels and restaurants.

There is strong demand for New Zealand food and beverages that are of high quality, healthy and halal – making us a natural partner for the GCC states.

But when I look around this room today, I see far more than our world class food and beverage offering.

New Zealand companies in agri-technology, aviation, information and communications technology, health IT, construction and manufacturing, healthcare and professional services and education consulting all have a presence here.

More than 120 New Zealand companies are active in the region and many of them represented here today are making Dubai their hub for the wider GCC and the Middle East.

Not far from here is the manufacturing facility of Pultron Composites between Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Pultron makes specialised components that are used in a range of applications including sail battens and security fencing.

This is just one example of the increasingly specialised and high tech manufacturing and services that New Zealand can offer.

When we look at growing and deepening our ties, New Zealand offers many opportunities for businesses and investors from the Gulf.

We’ve made our country an attractive place to do business.

Since I became Prime Minister in 2008 we have come through the Global Financial Crisis and now have one of the fastest growing developed economies in the world.

I lead a Government with a careful and balanced economic programme which backs investment and business.

We are ranked first in the world for protecting investors according to the World Bank Doing Business Report.

We are ranked first in the world for ease of starting a business, with a competitive and low compliance tax system.

Transparency International named us the second least corrupt nation in the world last year.

We have transparent foreign investment policies and apply them fairly and consistently.

Our geographical proximity to markets in the Asia-Pacific region, and extensive network of free trade agreements, provides us with excellent access to key global markets.

In my view a free-trade agreement between New Zealand and the GCC would take our economic relationship to the next level, and stimulate new ties between New Zealand and the Gulf States in a whole range of areas.

Negotiations on a New Zealand – GCC FTA were concluded in October 2009.

A key focus of my visit over the next few days will be engaging with my Gulf counterparts about the importance we attach to finalising the FTA and bringing it into force.

I think the time is right to get this agreement over the line.

Over the past 30 years New Zealand has steadily built a strong international network of trade agreements.

These FTAs have benefited both partners and stimulated economic and broader linkages.

I strongly believe this will also be demonstrated when the New Zealand and GCC FTA comes into force.

The FTA will eliminate millions of dollars in tariffs, meaning cheaper products for consumers in both New Zealand and the Gulf States.

Our economies are complementary so free trade will support the strategic economic needs of both sides.

For the Gulf States, this includes the strategic interest of securing reliable, high quality food security partners.

The FTA would also be an important signal to other countries that both sides are open for business, and provide a foundation for greater political engagement and deeper relationships.

Organisations like the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and the New Zealand Middle East Business Council have a crucial role in fostering business linkages and supporting trade.

As business leaders in the region, this FTA will benefit you. We would therefore welcome your support for it.

In closing, I’m very much looking forward to the next few days.

My delegation and I are here to reinforce our commitment to the Gulf region, to support trade, and build the relationships that will help to raise New Zealand’s profile and presence here.

We are committed to working in partnership with the UAE, and with other states in the GCC.

It's been a pleasure to be here. Thank you very much.

Shokran.

ends

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