Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce
Tuesday 6 October 2015
TTP deal keeps New Zealand in the game
Welcoming news that a Trans-Tasman Partnership (TTP) deal has been done, Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO Mark Futter said it will set a playing field for New Zealand business to succeed internationally for years
to come.
Judging from the final few days of negotiation, there will be winners and concessions, but we wouldn’t have signed into
this unless as a nation we were going to be ahead of where we were at the start. The Government has done the right thing
to sign up. It converts a considerable investment by successive governments over many years. “As a trade dependent
nation we needed to be in the room, and in the game from the start,” said Mr. Futter.
There may be concessions, but just as happened with other FTA’s we can keep the work going to improve the arrangements
as we move forward. We need to look at the facts not at the myths. We need to look at the long-game not be scared off by
short-term issues and academic detractors seeking to scare us into jumping ship.
TTP detractors need to get some perspective and look at the total picture of New Zealand’s long-term interests. The
bottom line is that as a trading nation, a Trans-Pacific Partnership puts in place potential for thousands of jobs and
billions of foreign exchange earnings for this country.
It would have been totally remiss of Government if had stepped away from signing into the deal.
ENDS