Visit to Japan and South Korea for Trade Negotiations.
Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell is in Japan today (10 October 2022) to strengthen trade ties, with a focus on the renewable energy sector. He will next travel to South Korea. In his first visit as a minister to Tokyo and Seoul, Senator Farrell will also discuss interest in locking in Australia as an alternative source to China of critical minerals.
The minister was due to meet with the Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Nishimura Yasutoshi in Tokyo after landing on Sunday night. In Tokyo, he will co-chair the fourth Ministerial Economic Dialogue with Mr Yasutoshi. Mr Farrell will also attend the 59th Australia-Japan Joint Business Conference where he will deliver the keynote speech.
In Seoul, Senator Farrell will be joined by a delegation of Australian critical minerals businesses to lead an industry roundtable with Korea’s Minister for Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang as the two nations work to develop commercial supply chains.
Visit to Singapore
The assistant Minister for Trade, Tim Ayres, will travel to Singapore this week to attend the sixth meeting of the Commission of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). This will be the first in-person CPTPP Ministerial meeting since 2019.
The CPTPP is one of the most comprehensive trade deals ever concluded, delivering opportunities for Australian exporters, investors and firms engaged in international business. The Agreement has eliminated 98 per cent of tariffs across a membership of a combined GDP of $14.2 trillion.
In a media release, Mr Ayres says that the regional nature of the CPTPP means Australian business, exporters and consumers all benefit from a common set of rules and more opportunities to reach new markets. The CPTPP is already in force for Australia, alongside Canada, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Peru, and Vietnam.
Joint Statement on Partners in the Blue Pacific Foreign Ministers Meeting
During September 2022, Ministers and representatives of Partners in the Blue Pacific members and observers and Pacific Ministers met to discuss progress in implementing Partners in the Blue Pacific. Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States welcomed Germany and Canada’s increased focus and commitment to genuine partnership with the Pacific and their announcement of intent to join the Partners in the Blue Pacific.
Partners noted that the Partners in the Blue Pacific aims to support the Pacific region and its priorities more effectively and efficiently. Together and individually, the countries will enhance our existing efforts to support Pacific priorities. Working together with the PIF and in response to the upcoming implementation plan for the 2050 Strategy, they will map existing projects and plan future ones, seeking to drive resources, remove duplication, and close gaps, which will avoid greater burdens and lost opportunities for Pacific governments and Pacific peoples.
Partners committed to regular and ongoing engagement with Pacific Island governments, the PIF and other Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific (CROP) agencies, and to periodic engagement to review and guide implementation in partnership with the Pacific in alignment with the views of the Pacific Islands.
For related news, see our article posted last month on the ministerial meeting of the new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).
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