Mr President, fellow delegates.

I am pleased to represent New Zealand at this important event, and I congratulate the ILO and the Director-General for their work in enabling this Summit to take place.

I've been impressed by the way in which all parties at the Conference are focused on the key issues confronting us and are working hard to find solutions to them.

Like most countries, New Zealand has been affected by the current economic situation. We entered a downturn in early 2008 due to a number of local factors which were then magnified as the flow-on effects of the financial crisis spread throughout world economies.

Consequently, we have seen economic contraction, with unemployment rising from a 22 year low of 3.5% in late 2007 to its current level of 5%, with forecasts near 7% in 2010.

In responding to the crisis, the New Zealand Government has therefore recognised the role it must play in keeping the economy going and focused on two key priorities.

First, cushioning the hardest-hit New Zealanders from the effects of the recession, both through helping business protect jobs and by giving New Zealanders who lose their jobs the best possible chance of finding new ones.

New Zealand's fiscal stimulus package is about 5% of our gross domestic product - amongst the largest in the world. We've introduced new programmes to help workers who have been made redundant, and we are maintaining key social security entitlements and benefits.

Secondly, we are setting out a credible road to economic recovery, so we can emerge stronger from the recession than we went into it. This includes longer-term measures to lift New Zealand's productivity, improve competitiveness and boost growth.

In this, we've taken an inclusive, tripartite approach, recognising that the problems arising from the current situation affect all New Zealanders.

In late February, our Prime Minister, the Honourable John Key, hosted a national Jobs Summit which saw unions, business and Government united by a common desire to do as much as possible to keep New Zealanders in work during this recession.

The Summit identified a list of employment and skills-focused measures for stimulating demand and improving our long-term economic prospects. This included a new job-support scheme which will see the Government help stave off redundancies by making a wage contribution to help employees through a period of reduced work-hours.

Although New Zealand has been affected far less severely by the crisis than some other parts of the world, we still face uncertain times. New Zealand is a small trading nation and, like others, we are being buffeted by the economic storm sweeping the planet.

To echo the sentiment so eloquently expressed by President Sarkozy, New Zealand believes in a principled approach to international relations. At a practical level, we have already actively incorporated labour and environmental arrangements as part of the free trade agreements we have negotiated.

Dealing with the crisis will mean ongoing budget deficits and an expected doubling of Government debt over the next three years. We expect the New Zealand economy to permanently lose about 50 billion New Zealand dollars of output through to 2012, compared with what would have happened without the recession.

New Zealand therefore agrees with the Director-General that a coordinated response to the crisis is needed, that promotes a focus on jobs and growth. 

To be of greatest value, a Global Jobs Pact must add something meaningful to the existing international debate, and focus on practical measures able to help the ILO's constituents deal with and recover from the crisis. 

This focus should be sharpened, not broadened out into other areas, and existing tools - such as the Global Employment Agenda - should be used where relevant. We are wary of any attempts to describe or define a "new globalisation" which detract from developing practical support measures for constituents.

Mr President, the current crisis poses a huge challenge to the tripartite partners and to the ILO itself.

This challenge will not be met through rhetoric, but by practical and useful actions developed to assist ILO members ride out the crisis and achieve a sustained social and economic recovery that reflects the shared values of this organisation.

Thank you.