NZ Diplomatic Strategy: NZ Diplomacy Gets A New Focus
November 5th, 2009
After an intensive round of diplomacy in Asia, John Key and Foreign Minister Murray McCully are convinced NZ’s diplomacy should be re-engineered, with more effort going into the region, and some downsizing elsewhere. Key says NZ has greater “relevance” in Asia. “The growth in our markets and our opportunities are in Asia. Are we really relevant in Spain or France or Poland? We are a small country they enjoy engaging with, but…we are easily forgotten when the visit is over. That is not the case in Asia. We are part of their world.” European markets are mature and don’t show the same prospects for growth as the thrusting Asian markets.
After the success of NZ’s free trade deal with China, plus free trade pacts with Thailand, Singapore, and now Malaysia, countries like Korea and Japan (which previously have resisted NZ overtures because of reluctance to upset powerful farm lobbies) are worried about being left behind. McCully has been in Seoul urging Ministers there to be “ambitious.” It’s possible a FTA slowly being worked on by Korean officials will be accelerated. Japan’s new PM Yukio Hatoyama is more receptive than most of his predecessors.
Significantly Japanese business leaders have become cheerleaders for a deal, as they note how 2-way trade between NZ and China has expanded. Key and McCully go to Singapore next week for APEC, and there is keen anticipation on how President Obama will declare himself on APEC’s goals There may also be some insight into whether he will push free trade with the region through the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a concept which emerged out of the P4 pact, and could include the US.
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Duncan Cotterill