Pacific trade

The acting Trade Commissioner, Glynis Miller, said investment was a key driver of sustainable economic growth and the Pacific needed foreign direct investment.

The organisation said this was more important than ever given the Pacific's reliance on tourism and the way the sector had been decimated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Chief Investment Officer, Manuel Valdez, said Pacific Trade Invest New Zealand held a rich database of information on what he called "bankable investment projects" across several industries.

RNZ reports the Australia and New Zealand led negotiations for the "Trade and Development" arrangements are due to wind up this month with the signing and ratification set to take place by December.

But the Pacific Network on Globalisation has consistently opposed PACER PLUS, saying it favours Australia and New Zealand and raises concerns about sovereignty.

PANG has repeatedly called for a halt to negotiations until an independent impact assessment of the proposed deal is conducted.

Trade Commissioners and officials of the network from China, Japan, Fiji, Australia and Switzerland as well as senior officials of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat have been attending meetings at the Auckland office and other events in the city this week.

At the Pacific free trade talks in Brisbane, Australia said it is prepared to offer concessions and will permit thousands more Pacific Islanders access to work on temporary visas.

The PACER Plus deal is scheduled to be signed in June after more than six years of negotiations.

Some of the poorest countries in the world are in the Pacific and the 16 island nation deal aims to reduce poverty through trade, however Papua New Guinea says the trade deal is unbalanced.

The report was produced by the EU-funded Increasing Agricultural Commodity Trade (IACT) project which is implemented by the Pacific Community (SPC).

Speaking at the launch, European Union Ambassador to Fiji and the Pacific, Andrew Jacobs said the EU is proud to have supported the Pacific Trade Report 2010-2014.

“I'm convinced that it will be a useful tool for the Pacific business community which will have access to an easy to read overview of regional trade flows and growth trends. They will then be able to identify potential market and investment opportunities,”

Edwini Kessie says the infant industry clause has been agreed to in principle and if finalised will allow island nations to choose areas they would like to tax, with the possibility of re-instating tariffs on industries previously classified as duty free.

Dr Kessie says the clause will make for a unique agreement.

The paper, released by the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG), details the dangers posed by PACER-Plus for Pacific livelihoods and how out of touch with the Pacific reality such free trade agreements are.