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I am honoured to come before you today as Ambassador of New Zealand to the United States of America. I thank you, [Mr President] and I thank the Government of the United States of America for accepting my credentials as Ambassador.
I bring to my service as Ambassador a lifetime of experience in politics and international relations. I intend to draw on this experience to promote new connections and opportunities between our countries.
[Mr President] New Zealand and the United States enjoy a long and multi-faceted friendship, forged on the battlefields of two world wars and sustained by the fundamental values we share. Secretary of State Clinton has recently remarked that the relationship between our countries is currently the best it has been in 25 years, and I am very pleased to come to Washington DC at such an exciting time.
We face in this multi-polar, multi-partner world a new set of challenges, and together must seek out new ways to resolve them. New Zealand welcomes your Administration’s commitment to smart power and shares your conviction that it is through constructive engagement with other governments that we are best able to chart a secure path forward. I look forward to working with my team to play whatever part we are able in maintaining and building on the regular and frank dialogue our two governments share.
In one of my past lives I was head of the World Trade Organisation, so it’s fair to say that trade liberalisation is a subject still close to my heart. We in New Zealand are excited about the prospects for regional economic integration offered by the Trans Pacific Partnership and delighted that the US, in deepening its engagement with the Asia Pacific region, also shares our objective of concluding a high-quality “21st century” trade agreement that responds to the needs of our traders in today’s global business environment.
The TPP vision is that other large Asia-Pacific markets will join the Agreement in the future. In the longer-term the TPP offers opportunities for the US to build its market share in Asia and create significant access for its exporters.
Of course, we cannot count on economic security without confronting the work that lies ahead of us in terms of protecting the environment. New Zealand and the US work closely together on the challenges posed by climate change, and the US is a strong supporter of the Global Research Alliance on agriculture greenhouse gas mitigation, to which New Zealand is also passionately committed.
The US is an important partner for New Zealand in the Asia Pacific region, and your Administration’s commitment to closer engagement with our region – whether through the welcome return of USAID to the Pacific, renewable energy projects for Pacific island nations, or regional economic integration through the TPP - provides a great platform to deepen our cooperation.
We welcome your commitment, and we look forward to working ever more closely with you on the political, security and economic interests we share in the Asia Pacific region. In particular, we in New Zealand are very much looking forward to the US hosting APEC in 2011 in [your/the President’s] home town of Honolulu.
Looking further afield, I return to the shared values and commitment to the rule of law that underpin New Zealand’s cooperation with the US in confronting global security challenges. We work together in Afghanistan, where New Zealand’s continued engagement demonstrates our shared commitment to helping Afghanistan stand on its own feet among the community of nations. New Zealand has recently appointed its first Kabul-based Ambassador and a Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. We work together in the Proliferation Security Initiative and share a commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. Our security relationship includes growing engagement with the Department of Homeland Security around issues like border and transport security. These are shared challenges that we need to tackle with a shared and coordinated international response. I look forward to maintaining the open and frank dialogue that exists between our two nations on these important issues.
The US is one of our oldest friends and allies. Our relationship is strong, diverse and broad-based.
[Mr President], in beginning my tenure as Ambassador of New Zealand to the United States of America, I commit myself to deepening and developing our enduring partnership of shared values and common purpose.
Thank you.
