Ministers Release Background On West Coast Logging

International Trade Minister Lockwood Smith says he is looking forward to a successful round of talks next week in Canberra with Australian Ministers on a range of multilateral, regional and bilateral issues.

Dr Smith will hold discussions on 16 April with Australian Trade Minister Tim Fischer and he will also be meeting John Anderson, the Australian Minister for Primary Industries and Energy.

"New Zealand and Australia have a very close relationship, not least when it comes to economic and trade matters. These Trade Ministers talks give us an important opportunity to strengthen and extend that relationship even further," said Dr Smith.

"Tim Fischer and I will be talking about how we can work together even more effectively and make the most of multilateral fora such as the World Trade Organisation and regional groupings like APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation).

"APEC and the WTO are going to be a major focus for Australia and New Zealand for the foreseeable future," Dr Smith noted.

"We will also be discussing bilateral issues. CER has been a remarkable success for both economies but there are some outstanding issues on the bilateral agenda. The meeting gives us a chance to iron out the few problems that have cropped up, and to look at how the relationship might develop in the future," the minister said.

Australia is New Zealand's biggest market for exports and our largest source of imports, while New Zealand is Australia's third largest export market and the largest market for Australian manufactured goods. Two-way trade was worth $9.4 billion last year.