EU trade commissioner Lamy to visit

European Union trade commissioner Pascal Lamy is to visit New Zealand, Trade Negotiations Minister Jim Sutton said today.

Mr Sutton said Mr Lamy would visit Wellington on September 8 and 9, before he went to Fiji for trade talks with Pacific Island nations.

While in Wellington, Mr Lamy will meet Prime Minister Helen Clark, Mr Sutton, foreign affairs, trade, and defence select committee chairman Peter Dunne, and opposition trade spokesman Lockwood Smith.

Mr Sutton said Mr Lamy was an important figure in the international trade world, and it was good to have him visit.

"The relationship between New Zealand and the European Union is a very warm one. There are issues in the multilateral arena which we will be keen to discuss with Mr Lamy, such as the WTO negotiations, and there are issues in the bilateral arena that we would also like to discuss, such as the recent enlargement of the European Union.

"Commissioner Lamy will also be explaining the EU plans to negotiate an Economic Partnership Agreement with 14 developing states in the Pacific."

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