What business needs from the incoming government is continuity around the current employment and labour relations framework, says EMA.

“Many members are raising their concerns about what will happen to workplace relations if there is a change as outlined in Labour’s Fair Pay Agreements policy,” says Kim Campbell, CEO, EMA.

“I urge all employers to take a good look at this policy. Within it are plans for significant change to the enterprise-level bargaining framework that has been in place for many years.”

Under the Employment Relations Act (2000) there is a clear framework for how employers and employees negotiate in good faith.

“This approach gives companies the flexibility to negotiate agreements with their workers to best meet the needs of the operation. Don’t forget, with this comes responsibilities that the employer must abide by too. If they don’t, they can find themselves facing hefty penalties along with irreparable reputational damage.

“We want a system which enables New Zealand business to remain competitive, now and into the future,” says Mr Campbell.

The EMA Election Manifesto highlighted the key areas its members wanted addressed by an incoming government. Some of the points highlighted were the need to address the Holidays Act and to ensure the principles and framework developed by the Pay Equity Working group were enshrined in the new legislation.

It also raised the need for a cohesive strategy on addressing the dynamic of the country’s ageing workforce along with closing the gap on skills and training, to help employers recruit and retain their workforce.

| An EMA release  ||  September12,  2017   |||

Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee has welcomed the prompt and unanimous United Nations Security Council Resolution imposing additional sanctions on North Korea.

Resolution 2375 was adopted by the Security Council earlier today, following North Korea’s sixth nuclear test on 3 September.

It is the ninth Security Council resolution to impose sanctions on North Korea, whose nuclear and ballistic missile tests violate previous Security Council directives. It follows Resolution 2371, which was agreed in early August.

“North Korea has shown, time and again, that it poses a real and immediate threat to both regional and international security,” Mr Brownlee says.

New Zealand continues to condemn its provocative actions in the strongest possible terms.”

The resolution adopted today will significantly reduce North Korea’s oil imports, bans North Korea from importing natural gas and exporting textiles, and restricts the number of labourers from North Korea that will be able to work overseas and generate income for the regime. It also allows states to inspect vessels on the high seas suspected of carrying items prohibited by the sanctions regime.

The measures contained in the resolution are estimated to diminish North Korea’s export earnings by as much as USD $1.3 billion.

“This is money that North Korea will not be able to put towards its illegal nuclear and missile programmes,” Mr Brownlee says.

“These new sanctions send a loud and clear message to North Korea that its behaviour will not be tolerated by the international community and will be met with significant consequences.”

“New Zealand has identified the support that we can provide on sanctions implementation in the Pacific. We will also be undertaking prompt steps to implement the new resolution and the measures it contains.”

“New Zealand, once again, joins the international community in calling on North Korea to abide by its international obligations and turn away from its current course,” Mr Brownlee says.

| A Beehive release  ||  September 12,  2017   |||

Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee will today travel to Samoa to join Pacific Leaders at the 48th annual Pacific Islands Forum, on behalf of Prime Minister Bill English.

“The Forum is an opportunity for Pacific Leaders to make decisions on the most important issues that we face as a region,” Mr Brownlee says.

“As a Pacific nation, New Zealand is committed to working with our closest neighbours where development assistance remains a priority.

“The Pacific is facing a range of regional challenges that no one country can tackle alone.

“The Forum is our opportunity, as a region, to find solutions to those challenges.

“I am looking forward to meeting with Pacific Leaders to discuss important issues from security to trade and from climate change to fisheries management.

“New Zealand and Samoa have a unique relationship based on our Treaty of Friendship, and I am looking forward to attending the Forum under Prime Minister Tuilaepa’s chairmanship,” Mr Brownlee says.

| A Beehive release  ||  September 7,  2017   ||

A business initiative that safely disposes of hazardous unwanted refrigerants has had its accreditation as a ‘product stewardship scheme’ extended by the Government, Associate Environment Minister Scott Simpson announced today.

Mr Simpson met with representatives of the Trust for the Destruction of Synthetic Refrigerants to congratulate them on the success their initiative, Refrigerant Recovery, has achieved in safely disposing of hazardous unwanted refrigerants.

Refrigerant Recovery collects unwanted man-made refrigerants from New Zealand’s refrigeration and air conditioning industries. Refrigerants from around the country are shipped to Australia where they are safely destroyed at high temperatures through a process of plasma conversion. The process is highly efficient and produces virtually no emissions.

“Refrigerant Recovery helps to reduce the risk of hazardous compounds such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) entering the environment. If these chemicals get into the environment they damage the earth’s protective ozone layer and contribute to global warming. HFCs are potent greenhouse gases that may be tens of thousands of times more harmful than carbon dioxide,” Mr Simpson says.

“By safely and sustainably disposing of hazardous chemicals, Refrigerant Recovery is helping to mitigate climate change and restore the ozone layer.”

Refrigerant Recovery is also helping New Zealand to meet its international obligations under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Under the Climate Change Response Act 1996, New Zealand has been phasing out the import of CFCs and HCFCs into the country. HFCs will be next on the agenda, and the Ministry for the Environment recently closed a consultation round on how to phase down HFCs in a response to the recently agreed Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.

In 2010, the Government accredited Refrigerant Recovery for seven years as a product stewardship scheme under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008. Refrigerant Recovery’s reaccreditation for the next seven years means that the Minister has recognised the scheme’s important contribution to reducing the environmental harms associated with disposing of man-made refrigerants.

Product stewardship describes the process by which producers and suppliers take responsibility for their products throughout their entire lifecycle, such as by reusing and recycling products.

| A Beehive release  ||  September 6,  2017   |||

Goods and Services Trade by Country: Year ended June 2017 – for more data and analysis

Goods and Services Trade by Country: Year ended June 2017 – Media Release

New Zealand’s two-way trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was $15.2 billion in the June 2017 year, Stats NZ said today. Goods and services exported to ASEAN countries totalled $6.3 billion, and imports totalled $8.9 billion. New Zealand’s trade deficit with the combined ASEAN countries was $2.6 billion.

ASEAN, established in August 1967, had Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand as original members. Countries that joined later were Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Viet Nam.

“Fifty years ago, we exported nearly $16 million worth of goods to the five original ASEAN countries,” international statistics senior manager Daria Kwon said. “That’s around $160 million in today’s value.”

New Zealand imported $11 million worth of goods from the five countries in 1967 (approximately $94 million in current dollars). Two-way trade with ASEAN was $27 million (just over $251 million in current dollars), which included a surplus of $5 million (around $63 million in current dollars). In 1967, services were not included in Stats NZ’s exports and imports data.Dairy products, petroleum, and cars the main goods traded

New Zealand exported $5.0 billion worth of goods to ASEAN countries in the June 2017 year, and imported a total of $7.1 billion worth of goods.

Dairy products (including milk powder and cheese) were the main goods exported to ASEAN, followed by meat, logs, fruit, and wood pulp and waste paper. A total of $2.4 billion of dairy products were sent to ASEAN in the June 2017 year, with $524 million to Malaysia alone. Malaysia received most of New Zealand’s dairy products this year, followed by the Philippines ($474 million) and Indonesia ($400 million).

Petroleum and related products was New Zealand’s largest goods import from ASEAN in the June 2017 year. Petroleum imports from ASEAN decreased in recent years as other sources were used, such as the United Arab Emirates. New Zealand imported $1.4 billion worth of petroleum from ASEAN in the June 2017 year, half of what was imported in the June 2013 year. Most these petroleum imports came from Singapore ($982 million).

Since 2013, the value of vehicles and parts imported from ASEAN has doubled to reach $1.3 billion in the June 2017 year. The majority of these vehicles are from Thailand, where cars and trucks are made under licence for Japanese, American, and other international car makers.

In 1967, New Zealand’s main goods exports to ASEAN were dairy products, followed by frozen meat, tallow, then wood pulp and waste paper.

“Although the goods we exported to ASEAN this year were similar to those in 1967, the value and volume of this trade has increased,” Ms Kwon said. “Our main imports from these countries in 1967 were crude and synthetic rubber, kerosene, and petroleum.”Travel and transportation the main services traded

New Zealand imported $1.8 billion worth of services from ASEAN in the June 2017 year, and exported a total $1.4 billion worth of services in return.

Travel was the largest services export to ASEAN ($1.0 billion total), with personal travel to New Zealand contributing $613 million to the economy. By country, Malaysia and Singapore had the highest number of total visitors to New Zealand.

Transportation was our largest services import from ASEAN in the June 2017 year ($669 million), with Singapore accounting for most of this. Imports of transportation services also includes New Zealanders travelling to and from Singapore on non-resident airlines.

There were 1,301 flights that arrived in New Zealand from Singapore in the June 2017 year, and 1,286 flights that departed from New Zealand to Singapore over the same period. Over 23,000 New Zealand-resident travellers listed Singapore as their main destination in the June 2017 year, mostly for holidays or to visit friends and relatives.

| A StatisticsNZ release  ||September 4,  2017   |||

Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee today named diplomat Pam Dunn as New Zealand’s Ambassador to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"The ASEAN region is a key political and security partner for New Zealand," Mr Brownlee says.

"Ms Dunn will be based in Jakarta alongside our Ambassador to Indonesia, and will work to deepen the trading and political relationship.

"She will also be able to offer New Zealand’s support and expertise in areas such as agricultural development, education, disaster relief, collective security and combating transnational crime.

"Our exports to the 10 ASEAN countries totalled more than NZ$6 billion in the previous financial year, predominantly from goods in the agriculture and forestry sectors but also from services.

"This trade is underpinned by the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA)."

"We hope to grow this significant trade and economic relationship, particularly in education and tourism," Mr Brownlee says.

Ms Dunn was most recently Private Secretary, Foreign Affairs in the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and has previously worked in Beijing and Shanghai.

| A Beehive release  ||  September 4,  2017   |||

A new Infrastructure Commission raises hopes of a more strategic approach to New Zealand infrastructure, says BusinessNZ.

Chief Executive Kirk Hope says the new body would be more politically durable if independent of the government of the day.

"It should also be independent of a single government department and made up of more than just a merger of the infrastructure and PPP units of Treasury."

The governance of the new body would matter to business and BusinessNZ offered to work with Government and other stakeholders to flesh out details.

"The new Commission should start with a long-term view of infrastructure needs set against a range of scenarios depending on New Zealand's likely growth prospects.

"Business would like to see more growth-enhancing infrastructure built using investment by private sector partners, recouped through usage, to reduce the funding burden on taxpayers," Mr Hope said.

| A BusinessNZ release  ||  September 2,  2017   |||

"The National Party’s announcement today that, if elected, it will set up an independent National Infrastructure Commission should have cross party support," says Infrastructure New Zealand Chief Executive, Stephen Selwood.

"Establishment of such a body will bring New Zealand’s infrastructure practices up to speed with Australia, the UK, Canada and other leading countries.

"The UK’s National Infrastructure Commission was established in 2015 to provide independent, strategic thinking, analysis and advice to address the UK’s long-term infrastructure needs.

"A New Zealand infrastructure commission needs to be charged with equivalent responsibility. This would include investigating and recommending responses to our most pressing issues in housing, freshwater quality and congestion, in addition to oversight of project delivery, procurement, and the national infrastructure pipeline.

"The size of the infrastructure workload ahead means we have to make the most of every dollar spent. Having a public entity working in New Zealand's best interests and with expertise in project delivery is critical.

"National’s announcement today is focussed on leveraging private sector capital and expertise through Public Private Partnerships.

"PPPs are an important component of any rational infrastructure delivery programme, but the Commission needs to encompass all forms of project delivery, regardless of whether or not private capital is involved.

"Successive surveys by Infrastructure NZ and other evidence shows that New Zealand’s infrastructure procurement can significantly be improved and international experience shows there are billions of dollars of benefit from doing so.

"Having our best and most experienced people involved when the Government buys large and complex assets like motorways, railways, schools, and hospitals minimises the risk of mistakes and capitalises on the investment opportunity.

"It’s not only individual projects which will benefit from a new body. A clear and committed national infrastructure pipeline has for many years been an industry priority. Businesses who deliver assets on behalf of governments need to know what’s ahead and if the Commission can provide greater certainty around this it will make a big difference to investment and productivity in the sector.

"These are the reasons why Canada, through Partnerships BC and Infrastructure Ontario, the UK, through the Infrastructure and Projects Authority and Scottish Futures Trust, and Australia through Infrastructure NSW and Major Projects Victoria have all picked up the model.

"Some of the greatest benefits could be realised from using the Commission to assist local government with its $50 billion infrastructure programme. Bundling council projects and supporting our smallest infrastructure providers with specialist knowledge will reduce project overruns and help provide better services at lower cost to ratepayers.

"For the Commission to be successful, it will need arm’s length independence from the Government, like the Commerce Commission or Reserve Bank, to ensure that it acts apolitically in New Zealand’s long term interests.

"A specialist infrastructure body is a really positive step forward for New Zealand. It is a bi-partisan response to New Zealand’s infrastructure needs and should receive cross-party support," Selwood says.

| An Infrastructure New Zealand release || September 1, 2017   |||

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Trade negotiators from Canada and the United States gathered under rainy skies in Mexico City on Friday to discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement, with the mood darkened by U.S. President Donald Trump's persistent threats to pull out.

Teams from the three countries were due to kick off a second round of talks on 25 areas of discussion, with subjects such as digital commerce and small businesses seen as areas where consensus was possible, Mexican officials said.

The Sept. 1-5 round will also touch on more thorny topics such as rules governing local content in products made in North America, Mexico's economy ministry said in a statement. Mexican officials believe Trump wants to include rules that some content must be made in the United States.

Trump's attacks on NAFTA are seen by Mexican and Canadian officials as a negotiating ploy to wring concessions, but they have heightened uncertainty over the accord. Away from the diplomatic noise, the Mexico round of talks is expected to help define the priorities of each nation rather than yield major advances.

Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke by telephone on Thursday and stressed they wanted to reach an agreement on NAFTA by the end of the year, the White House said. If they achieve that, it could set a record among the fastest multinational trade negotiation.

The goal is to get a deal before Mexico's 2018 presidential campaign starts in earnest. Officials fear the campaign will politicize talks, with nationalist frontrunner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador already recommending a tougher line from Mexico.

Nevertheless, one Mexican official noted that Trump's threats had put pressure on his negotiators, forcing them to adopt tougher positions "than they would like," while another official said they were ready to leave the table if needed.

Negotiators predict that there would not be substantial discussion of areas of friction in either this round or the next one, a source familiar with the process said.

"We do not expect any major breakthroughs or major developments in this round. We really don't," the source said.

TRUMP THREATS

Trump said this week he might trigger a 180-day countdown to withdraw from NAFTA while the talks were ongoing to help meet his goals, which include sharply reducing a $64 billion annual U.S. trade deficit with Mexico.

NAFTA, first implemented in 1994, eliminates most tariffs on trade between the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Critics say it has drawn jobs from the United States and Canada to Mexico, where workers are paid far lower wages. Supporters say it has created U.S. jobs, and the loss of manufacturing from the United States has more to do with China than Mexico.

If NAFTA collapses, costs could rise for hundreds of billions of dollars of trade as tariffs are brought back. Free-trade lobby groups say consumers would be saddled with higher prices and less availability of products ranging from avocados and berries to heavy trucks.

UNCERTAIN FUTURE

Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo and Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray told officials in Washington on Wednesday that Mexico would walk away from the negotiations if Trump pulls the trigger on withdrawing from the deal.

Amid Trump's warnings, Mexico is preparing for something hard to imagine even a few months ago - life without the agreement that boosted trilateral trade to around $1 trillion annually.

Juan Pablo Castanon, president of Mexico's Business Coordination Council representing the private sector in the talks, said Mexico's "Plan B" could be up and running within three months of an eventual NAFTA collapse.

Talking on Mexican television, he said the plan was focused on striking new trade arrangements in Asia and Latin America, sourcing alternate suppliers such as Brazil for grains now imported from the United States, and finding ways to recreate investor guarantees that are included in NAFTA.

Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto travels to China this weekend for talks about trade and investment, while Mexican negotiators were due to take part in trade talks with South American nations, Australia and New Zealand on Tuesday.

Mexico's status as the biggest foreign buyer of yellow corn from the United States gives it some leverage in the NAFTA talks, with corn-growing states that voted for Trump in 2016 emerging as a powerful voice that is opposed to scrapping the deal.

(Additional reporting by Adriana Barrera; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

|  A RealNewsNow release  ||  September 2,  2017   |||

Economic Development Minister Simon Bridges has joined Taranaki councils and the business community to launch an economic development strategy for the region.

The Minister is in New Plymouth today to join the local community at the launch of Tapuae Roa - Make Way for Taranaki, which provides direction for the region’s economy.

“Taranaki’s economy is mostly based on the oil, gas, dairy, manufacturing and other sectors. This strategy will build on this through boosting skills and enterprise to grow Taranaki into a modern, high-value economy," Mr Bridges says.

“While the region has a noteworthy technology profile, the strategy also highlights the lifestyle and culture of the region. The region can be proud of its achievements with the award-winning Len Lye Centre, the coastal walkway, WOMAD and many others.”

The strategy was commissioned by Taranaki’s four councils and was developed by business and iwi leaders, the region’s councils and central government.

It identifies a number of action areas including boosting tourism and visitor services, growing the Maori economy and focusing on improving skills and innovation.

“The opportunities highlighted in the strategy will go a long way to Taranaki continuing its reign as the second best region in the world as voted by Lonely Planet, building on its visitor sector and taking the economy to the next level,” Mr Bridges says.

An action plan currently being developed will be released later this year and will identify priority actions to deliver the regional strategy.

Through the Regional Growth Programme, central government agencies will work in partnership with Taranaki stakeholders to develop and implement the Action Plan.

For more information on the strategy, go to www.makeway.co.nz.

| A Beehive release  ||  August 31,  2017   |||