Intell Asia reported that Malaysia has signed a free trade agreement with New Zealand that will see the abolishment of import duties on their respective industrial and agriculture products, further liberalization of the services sector and facilitation of cross border investment.

Mr Mustapa Mohamed international trade and industry minister of Malaysia and his New Zealand counterpart Mr Tim Groser signed the agreement in the Malaysian capital after 10 rounds of negotiations that began in 2005.

Mr John Key Prime Minister of New Zealand hailed the FTA, saying that besides a growing market, Malaysia is also a launching pad for New Zealand companies and products to penetrate the regional market. He added that "We see a tremendous potential and we appreciate the willingness of the Malaysian government to sign the FTA."

According to a statement from Malaysia's MITI, the FTA that is expected to take effect in 2010 will see Malaysia eliminate import duties on 10,293 tariff lines in products ranging from paper and plastics to automotive components by 2016.

New Zealand will abolish import duties on all of its tariff lines, 7,238, on goods such as cocoa products, carpets, tires, iron products and wood furniture by 2016. Both countries also pledged to open their services sectors such as private education, mining, engineering, veterinary and tourism services.

The FTA is Malaysia's third bilateral agreement. It already has FTAs with Japan and Pakistan that were signed in 2005 and 2007. Total trade between Malaysia and New Zealand was nearly USD 2 billion in an increase of more than 46% from 2007.

(Sourced from Intell Asia)