Lai calls for more trade cooperation with NZ amid global challenges

Taipei, April 17 (CNA) Taiwan looks forward to collaborating with New Zealand to expand trade and business opportunities amid global challenges, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said Thursday during a meeting with a visiting Oceanian parliamentarian group in Taipei.

Taiwan and New Zealand can work together to "explore even more diverse markets," Lai said, adding that the two sides should focus on areas such as smart agriculture, food manufacturing, biomedicine, the digital economy and clean energy.

In response to the challenges of a changing world, Taiwan and New Zealand should deepen cooperation and jointly advance their economies and industrial development, Lai said.

The president did not specify what those challenges may be, but Taipei has called for market diversification in the wake of levies imposed by the United States on Taiwanese goods earlier this month.

Lai added that democracies must also work together to uphold peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, at a time when authoritarian regimes continue to converge and expand.

Meanwhile, Stuart Smith, a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives, mentioned shared security interests in the region, noting that New Zealand recently sent a naval vessel through the Taiwan Strait.

Smith was likely referring to the passage of a New Zealand military vessel alongside an Australian one through the Taiwan Strait last September -- the first such transit in seven years -- to uphold freedom of navigation, according to New Zealand's defense authorities.

Taiwan and New Zealand are both trading nations that rely on easy access for imports and exports, Smith said, adding that he looks forward to seeing closer trade ties between the two sides.

Joining Smith, the whip of the National Party, in the meeting at the Presidential Office were six other parliamentarians from New Zealand -- Tangi Utikere, Jamie Arbuckle, Greg Fleming, Hamish Campbell, Cameron Luxton and Helen White.

The delegation arrived in Taiwan on April 13 for a six-day visit, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Utikere noted that the delegation members are also part of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Taiwan, which was established in 2023 in the New Zealand Parliament, adding that the group will continue to promote bilateral ties between the two sides.