Federal Minister Altmaier talks to New Zealand Trade Minister Parker about current developments in trade policy

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier and New Zealand’s Minister of Trade David Parker had a telephone conversation today and exchanged views on how to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, on the economic relations between Germany and New Zealand and current developments in global trade policy.

Economic Affairs Minister Peter Altmaier said: “The coronavirus crisis continues to dominate not only the economy in Europe but also the global economy as a whole. We must therefore continue to exchange views in order to overcome the coronavirus crisis. It is also important to strengthen our multilateral trade order. Developments in global trade policy were therefore an important topic of discussion today, as were the negotiations on the free trade agreement between the EU and New Zealand. New Zealand is an important economic partner for us in the Indo-Pacific region. It is a partner which shares our values and with whom we are engaged in good and long-standing intensive cooperation. In particular, the economic relations between our two countries have developed dynamically over the past few years. We want to keep supporting this as best we can in future.”

The trade volume between Germany and New Zealand has developed positively in recent years. In 2019 German exports amounted to 1.71 billion euros and German imports to 671.5 million euros.