President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon welcomed on Thursday the development of stronger economic linkages between their countries and reaffirmed their shared commitment to upholding the rules-based trading system.
“Both Leaders welcomed the upgrade of the ASEAN Australia New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) and the successful implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP),” said the joint statement for the official visit of Prime Minister Luxon.
“The two leaders acknowledged the strong collaboration between the countries through the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).”
The two leaders also noted the importance of collaboration with partners across the Indo-Pacific region, including India and the United States, notably within the 14-country Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) for Prosperity, which has concluded agreements on the transition to clean and fair economies, as well as commenced implementation of the Supply Chain Agreement in February 2024.
Marcos and Luxon also acknowledged ongoing cooperation in agriculture, with the New Zealand leader acknowledging the Philippines’ interest in developing the export capability of its agricultural sector and pledged to further discussions between officials on the initiative.
And to ensure that exporters can fully utilize the comprehensive suite of free trade agreements, with a view to achieving a mutually beneficial increase of 50 percent in two-way trade by 2030, the two leaders committed to further eliminate unnecessary barriers to trade.
In 2023, New Zealand ranked as the Philippines’ 28th trading partner (out of 230) with total trade amounting to US$495.37 million and also its 38th export destination and 24th import source. The Philippines has a US$361.94 million trade deficit with New Zealand.
New Zealand was ranked in 2021 as the 34th source of approved investments in the manufacturing and wholesale and retail trade industry.
From 2018 to 2022, approved investments from New Zealand amounted to US$3.49 million in key sectors such as manufacturing, administrative and support services activities, wholesale and retail trade, and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles.
The Philippines and New Zealand established their formal diplomatic relations on July 6, 1966, with their relations now spanning 57 years. |PND
