WELLINGTON, Feb. 28 (Chinese media) -- New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser said Saturday New Zealand dairy exporters will be among the big winners in a free trade deal signed between New Zealand, Australia and 10 Southeast Asian nations.
The agreement, signed in Thailand on Friday night, will eliminate tariffs on 99 percent of New Zealand exports to Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam by 2020.
It will give similar rights to imports from countries belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, although many such imports are already duty-free.
Groser said dairy co-operative Fonterra has already indicated to him how significant the free trade deal is, Radio New Zealand reported.
He said 2.5 billion NZ dollars (1.3 billion U.S. dollars) worth of dairy products are going into the Asian market and there will be significant long term benefits for dairy exports.
The agreement covers investment and services as well as trade in goods.
It also covers temporary migration, allowing in 100 nurses from the Philippines and 200 professionals from Vietnam.
The 10 member states of ASEAN are already New Zealand's third largest export market, worth 4.6 billion NZ dollars last year.
ASEAN comprises Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei and the Philippines.
The region is home to over 600 million people and, according to the Singaporean government, has a combined GDP worth over 2 trillion U.S. dollars.
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