The first multi-party free trade agreement spanning the Pacific and Asia was signed today in a ceremony at Parliament, announced Prime Minister Helen Clark.

The Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership links New Zealand with Chile, Singapore and Brunei, liberalising trade in goods and services between the four countries.

Helen Clark said that New Zealand, as the depositary state for the agreement, was hosting the signing ceremony.

The documents were signed by New Zealand Minister for Trade Negotiations Jim Sutton, Singapore High Commissioner to New Zealand Ms Seetoh Hoy Cheng, and the Chilean Ambassador to New Zealand Mr Juan Salazar. Brunei will sign early next month.

“This is a high quality trade agreement of strategic and economic importance to New Zealand. It provides for the elimination of all tariffs among the four countries, a feat not often achieved in trade agreements,” said Helen Clark.

“It builds a strategic partnership for New Zealand with three other open and dynamic economies.

“It is also an agreement that has the potential to grow – as shown by Brunei’s decision to join half way through the negotiations. We hope to see others join.”

Also signed today were the accompanying Labour Co-operation Memorandum of Understanding and an Environment Co-operation Agreement.

Together the four countries, which are all members of APEC, have a combined GPD of some NZ$400 billion. There is potential for trade flows, currently worth over NZ$2.5 billion, to expand significantly.

The SEP is the second free trade agreement signed this year by New Zealand. In April, the Closer Economic Partnership with Thailand was signed in a ceremony in Bangkok.

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More information about the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership is available at: www.mfat.govt.nz/tradeagreements/transpacepa/transpacsepindex.html