Trade Minister Todd McClay will attend the G7 Trade Ministers meeting in Reggio Calabria, Italy, next week, the first time New Zealand has been invited to join the event.
The G7 meeting will be attended by some of the world’s largest economies and many of New Zealand’s important trading partners.
“As an exporting nation reliant on trade, this is a significant opportunity to boost our economic interests with major global economies,” McClay said.
New Zealand was invited by Italy, the current president of the G7, to attend the outreach session following its success in negotiating the e-commerce agreement at this year’s WTO Ministerial Trade Negotiation in Abu Dhabi.
McClay will represent New Zealand alongside G7 members and a small group of others including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Kenya, South Korea, Türkiye and Vietnam.
“The government is relentlessly focused on growing New Zealand’s economy, with an aspirational target of doubling exports by value in 10 years. Resilient supply chains, supported by G7 members who account for over 25% of global GDP, will play a pivotal role in meeting this goal and ensuring our products make it to market,” McClay said.
In addition to meeting with counterparts of G7 economies, McClay will also undertake bilateral meetings with the Italian government.
“Italy is our third largest European Union export market with two-way trade totalling $2.22 billion last year. They are a significant market for our high-quality food and fibre accounting for $94.7 million of tanned hides and leather, $28.7m of wool, and $28.9m of meat last year,” McClay said.
The G7 session provides an opportunity for New Zealand to build relationships and support the one in four Kiwi jobs that rely on trade, he said.
“We are committed to making sure New Zealand is competitive on the world stage and our exporters are recognised for the high-quality, safe and sustainable exports they produce.”
The G7 is an intergovernmental political and economic forum consisting of major advanced economies Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The European Union is also a non-enumerated member.
