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Outcome one reflects New Zealand’s influence and standing in global and regional affairs, and the role we have in achieving broader foreign policy goals. We need to maintain and develop a network of strong relationships that we can draw on in order to achieve the Government’s priorities. The relationships the Ministry builds and sustains also support the work of other agencies, by facilitating access to decision makers who can assist them in achieving their objectives, particularly where these have an offshore component.
In support of this outcome we have sought to:
In our Statement of Intent 2010–13 we set out two medium-term indicators of our success against this outcome, namely:
New Zealand’s political and trade interests have been promoted vigorously this year. Relations with key partners have continued to warm with significant high level ministerial visits occurringin New Zealand and around the world.
Opportunities to develop common positions and influence decision makers in other countries have been actively pursued.
An unprecedented level of Prime Ministerial and Ministerial engagement between New Zealand and Australia, including historic addresses to Parliament by each Prime Minister, has reaffirmed the uniqueness of the trans-Tasman relationship. Australia’s rapid, practical and generous response to the Pike River and Christchurch earthquake disasters bore testament to this.
Australia has taken New Zealand concerns into account on a number of bilateral issues, including progressing a joint therapeutics agency. On the international stage, close cooperation with Australia on a range of common interests such as development in the Pacific, Fiji and the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations has supported New Zealand objectives.
This year saw frequent (23 visits to and from New Zealand) increasingly routine high level Ministerial contact with Pacific island countries. Bilateral visits were made to New Zealand by Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers and other portfolio ministers. Missions were led by the New Zealand Foreign Minister to Polynesian, Melanesian and Micronesian countries.
During these visits New Zealand had access to the highest levels of Pacific Governments and Ministers were able to engage in substantive policy discussion. New Zealand positions were explained and solutions developed that took these into account.
A ministerial Pacific Mission to Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Samoa in August/September 2010 included over 30 representatives (among them Members of Parliament, the Official Development Assistance Board and media). The Ministerial mission to the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu in June 2011 included 50 representatives from non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the private sector and the media.
Seven ministerial visits between New Zealand and Tonga demonstrated our engagement on support of democratic reforms. New Zealand has been successful in working with other Pacific Governments to maintain a unified Pacific Islands Forum position on Fiji.
Strong friendship and support for New Zealand was demonstrated by Pacific neighbours following the Pike River and Canterbury earthquake disasters, with generous donations and offers of practical assistance.
Building from the step-change in the relationship in the previous year, 2010/11 saw a new level of engagement with China. New Zealand’s major effort to leverage Shanghai Expo was based on a significant ministerial engagement with China, and a successful NZ Inc business links project involved more than 9,000 participants. New Zealand’s trade with China continues to grow following the China New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA), with exports there a bright spot.
Taiwan and Korea also grew as trading, science and innovation partners. FTA discussions with Korea continue.
The number of two-way, high level visits to our Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) partner countries and India has increased. This sharpens our focus on the expansion of bilateral trade and people-to-people links. In the case of India, development of the NZ Inc strategy has as its vision that India becomes a core trade, economic and political partner for New Zealand by 2015.
The ASEAN-NZ Commemorative Summit, involving Prime Minister Key and counterparts from ASEAN countries, launched the Comprehensive Partnership Framework and Flagship initiative aimed at growing New Zealand’s relationship with ASEAN.
There were 37 Ministerial (or higher) level visits to and from the North Asia region over the 2010/11 year. Many agreements were concluded during these visits. Of key importance were the conclusion of the China/New Zealand Film Co-Production Agreement in July 2010 (the first production under this agreement is being negotiated now), and New Zealand’s first currency swap arrangement with China, agreed in 2011. Arrangements with China on fruit access, live seafood access and meat premises were concluded. Temporary Taiwan dairy tariff reductions were secured. New Zealand was also represented at the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War.
New Zealand’s response to the Christchurch earthquake and to the Japan disaster preserved New Zealand’s political reputation with key partners in Asia and was evidence that, when required, New Zealand’s leaders can engage quickly on critical issues with Foreign Ministers and Heads of Government in North and South East Asia.
The Wellington Declaration (November 2010) has moved the relationship between our countries to a new level, providing for a new strategic partnership between the United States and New Zealand. The declaration was signed when Secretary of State Clinton visited New Zealand in November 2010 and has two fundamental elements – a new focus on practical cooperation in the Pacific region, and enhanced political and subject-matter expert dialogue. Cooperation has been enhanced in these areas and New Zealand’s views were appreciated. This was demonstrated during the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ visit to Washington in May 2011 and in subsequent preparations for the Prime Minister’s visit to Washington in July 2011.
Relations with the EU have been bolstered by key Prime Ministerial and Ministerial visits (inward and outward), including the Prime Minister’s visit to London and Paris, the first meeting between the EU High Representative and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the visit by the EU Commissioner for Trade to New Zealand. (In combination these have set the scene for high level visits by the EU to New Zealand in September/October 2011.) These visits have been used to good effect in advancing our Comprehensive Agreement with the EU. Efforts continue to secure broader EU membership support, and there now appears to be greater acceptance of the proposal within the European Commission as a serious one that needs to be explored in greater depth.
A strategic priority for the Government is to promote New Zealand’s economic growth, help to build more competitive firms, and to increase the ratio of exports of goods and services as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).
The Government has stressed the fundamental importance of international engagement in raising New Zealand’s productivity and growth performance. The Ministry has a key role to support external economic activity. We do this by negotiating trade agreements, and support for trade and investment liberalisation, and through furthering the transfer of skills and technology to New Zealand. We also support exporters, particularly in those countries where there are close links between business and government.
In support of this we have continued to work towards achieving:
We identified a set of high-level measures to assess our progress against this outcome in the period to 2013. These are:
We focused on five key interventions to achieve our targets most effectively.
We have led a multi-agency team seeking strong market access outcomes in the context of negotiating new high quality, comprehensive free trade agreements. In particular, we have:
We have also improved existing trade and economic frameworks. Specifically:
The WTO Doha round remains stalled due to disagreement among key players on whether further concessions on agricultural and industrial market access should be offered in order to find a balance in the negotiations acceptable to all participants. New Zealand has worked constructively to move the negotiations forward, but it is now clear that progress in the short to medium term will not be possible, and resourcing decisions have been taken in consequence. We have continued our involvement in regular (non-Doha) WTO processes, in areas such as agriculture, technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary issues, in order to advance New Zealand’s interests in maintaining and improving access to other countries’ markets.
The WTO Appellate Body upheld the key findings of an earlier Panel decision in favour of New Zealand in the Australia-apples case, delivering New Zealand a solid victory. The two sides agreed on an eight-month period for Australia to implement the ruling and bring its measures into compliance with WTO obligations. Australia is reviewing its import risk analysis and, by 17 August 2011, will be in a position to issue import permits for New Zealand apples, thus opening the door to New Zealand apple exports to Australia for the first time since 1921.
We have been working closely with other economic agencies on international aspects of the Government’s Economic Growth Agenda, principally the ‘Science, Innovation and Trade’ driver. In addition to negotiating FTAs, we have been involved in the reshaping of policy at home and its international implementation. We expect this to deliver more for our science partnerships and connections, international education and immigration and to assist business drive for further innovation, trade and investment growth.
We are also coordinating the government-wide NZ Inc country and regional strategies. These are an important tool for setting strategic priorities and coordinating operations across agencies for New Zealand’s key economic partners. The first four NZ Inc country strategies to be completed are India, China, the United States and Australia. These will be followed by regional strategies on ASEAN, EU and the Middle East. Businesses are engaged in the development and subsequent implementation of the strategies, with the aim of supporting firms to strengthen their international connections.
In the wake of the Christchurch earthquake, we have established a physical presence in Christchurch and assisted with the earthquake fundraising initiative.
In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the G20 remains the key forum for international economic cooperation among the major developed and developing economies. The Ministry continues to coordinate New Zealand’s response to relevant work streams generated by the G20 process, including an annual summit and various Ministerial meetings. We work actively with both G20 and non-G20 members to ensure New Zealand’s views are taken into account. Over the past year, the G20 has expanded its mandate to include food price volatility and agriculture. The action plan produced by G20 Agriculture Ministers broadly and usefully reflects our interests.
The performance measures identified in the Statement of Intent 2010–2013 (see table below) provide an indication, over the longer term, of how we are tracking nationally against our targets.
| Indicator | Sub-Indicator (if any) |
2009/10 |
2010/11 |
|---|---|---|---|
NZ exports grow as a percentage of GDP |
NA |
30.8 |
27.9 |
Foreign direct investment grows as a % of GDP |
Inwards |
49.1 |
49.2 |
Outwards |
13.4 |
11.4 |
|
New Zealand’s performance on key indicators of international competitiveness improves |
KOF Globalisation ranking1 |
27 out of 208 |
25 out of 208 |
World Economic Forum competitiveness ranking |
20 out of 144 |
23 out of 144 |
|
World Economic Forum enabling trade ranking |
11 out of 125 |
6 out of 125 |
|
World Bank World trade indicators2 |
- |
- |
Performance against these high level outcome measures was mixed. New Zealand export as a percentage of GDP and outward investment by New Zealand businesses as a percentage of GDP have declined compared to last year. On the positive side, New Zealand’s international rankings on globalisation and trade enablement have improved. The level of attribution for changes to these measures is, however, low as there are too many factors outside the Ministry’s control which influence the ratios and international indices.3 With this in mind, we have identified additional measures of the Ministry’s contribution to New Zealand’s economic growth that are more directly shaped by our work.
3. For example exchange rate pressures that serve to slow export growth (and depending on the rate of economic growth, the export to GDP ratio) could undermine efforts to negotiate better market access in offshore markets for our traders.
The table overleaf captures the percentage of New Zealand exports covered by trade agreements. During 2010/11 the New Zealand-Malaysia FTA and the New Zealand-Hong Kong FTA entered into force. This resulted in a further 3.8% of New Zealand’s goods4 exports, worth around $866 million, being covered by the provisions of an FTA. Overall this increased the FTA/CEP coverage of New Zealand exports to just over 46% (or just over $20 billion worth of New Zealand exports).
The following table also outlines the bilateral/regional trade agreements under negotiation. A comprehensive outcome in those negotiations, and signature of the New Zealand Gulf Cooperation Council (NZ-GCC) FTA, would increase the export coverage of New Zealand’s FTAs/CEPs to just over 64% (taking the export value to nearly $28 billion).
Trade agreements currently in force |
Share of total exports in 2010 |
|---|---|
NZ-Australia CER (1 January 1983) |
23.0 |
NZ-Singapore CEP (1 January 2001) |
1.9 |
NZ-Thailand CEP (1 January 2005) |
1.6 |
P4 (Singapore 1 May 2005; Brunei 12 July 2006; Chile 8 November 2006)* |
0.1 |
NZ-China FTA (1 October 2008) |
11.1 |
AANZFTA (1 January 2010)* |
4.8 |
NZ-Malaysia FTA (1 August 2010) |
1.8 |
NZ-Hong Kong CEP (1 January 2011) |
2.0 |
Total exports covered by agreements in force |
46.3 |
AWAITING SIGNATURE |
|
NZ-GCC FTA (negotiations concluded) |
2.9 |
UNDER NEGOTIATION |
|
TPP (Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Peru, Singapore, US, Vietnam)** |
8.8 |
NZ-Korea FTA |
3.2 |
NZ-India FTA |
2.1 |
NZ-Russia Belarus-Kazakhstan FTA |
0.6 |
Total exports to be covered by agreements |
64.0 |
* Malaysia is excluded given the separate New Zealand-Malaysia FTA.
** Only the additional contribution made by new FTA partners is reported.
The table below captures the percentage of New Zealand goods exports subject to duty free treatment (i.e. facing no tariffs) within a bilateral or regional trade agreement.
In 2010 around 35% of New Zealand’s exports were entering FTA markets duty free. This will increase to nearly 46% as tariff reductions are phased in over time.
It has not been possible in 2010/11 to capture the transition to the current duty-free position but we will aim to provide this dynamic picture in future reports.
Trade agreements |
% Of exports to FTA partner duty-free in 2010 |
% of total NZ exports duty-free under FTAs |
|---|---|---|
NZ-Australia CER |
100 |
23.0 |
NZ-Singapore CEP |
100 |
1.9 |
NZ-Thailand CEP |
65 |
1.0 |
P4 |
||
|
92 |
0.007 |
|
90 |
0.13 |
NZ-China FTA |
41 |
4.6 |
AANZFTA |
||
|
36 |
0.8 |
|
28 |
0.3 |
|
74 |
1.2 |
NZ-Malaysia FTA |
95 |
0.5 |
NZ-Hong Kong |
||
CEP |
100 |
2.0 |
Total |
35.4 |
New Zealand’s ongoing prosperity depends on the health and security of the markets we trade with. It also depends on the willingness of other countries to respect international rules, many of them set by the United Nations (UN) and related organisations. Where common resources are concerned, internationally agreed rules are often required to avoid over-exploitation. As a small country, New Zealand has an interest in a rule-setting system that is effective, and gives us a voice.
In support of this we sought to achieve:
We identified a set of high-level measures to assess our progress against this outcome in the period to 2013. These are:
New Zealand is an active participant in trans-boundary organisations and in promoting the development and maintenance of international rules. We have continued our engagement in developing effective climate change response frameworks, promoting improvements to marine resource management and engagement with the UN through both large and small multilateral groups.
This year New Zealand hosted a regional event related to terrorism awareness and preparedness. We have been engaged with the United States on initiatives to reduce transnational crime in the Asia-Pacific region. We have continued to be involved in peace and reconstruction efforts in conflict zones.
We have been actively involved in efforts to improve New Zealand’s offshore security interventions. We have continued to focus our effort on Afghanistan and have increased our engagement on Middle East and North Africa issues in response to events there. We deployed one of our people to Afghanistan to lead the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Bamyan province. Bamyan province being named in the first tranche of transition provinces in Afghanistan, with effect from July 2011, is in part a reflection of the role played by New Zealand since the first deployment to Bamyan in 2003. Our staff remained deployed to the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands. We also worked with other New Zealand agencies to improve the interaction between military and civilian agencies and ensure a well-coordinated New Zealand response to instability in other parts of the world.
New Zealand was actively engaged in efforts against international terrorism, including providing support to partners in the Pacific and Southeast Asia to counter terrorism and radicalisation in those regions.
New Zealand is actively involved in efforts to curb the spread of weapons of mass destruction and in promoting disarmament. De-alerting nuclear weapons is a key measure to reduce the risk of a nuclear exchange. New Zealand led the UN resolution on de-alerting last year, attracting eleven new votes in favour, including a number of NATO states and China, the first nuclear-weapon state to support the resolution. New Zealand’s year-long chairmanship of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a significant non-proliferation body, culminated in the June 2011 adoption of new, stricter export guidelines on sensitive nuclear technologies after seven years of negotiation. New Zealand remains closely involved in the ongoing negotiations of an Arms Trade Treaty that will be comprehensive, set minimum international standards and be effectively enforced. Following the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty’s Review Conference, we have engaged with the United States and the United Kingdom to encourage full implementation of the action plan agreed at the conference.
Progress towards a new, comprehensive climate change regime was marked by the Cancun Agreements, which bring within the UN framework pledges to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by both developed and developing countries. Over the year New Zealand advanced its interests in agriculture and forestry, played a key role in facilitating agreement on the transparency provisions of the Cancun Agreements and was elected to chair the Kyoto Protocol negotiations.
The Ministerial meeting convened by New Zealand to sign the charter of the Global Research Alliance on Greenhouse Gas Emissions was a major milestone. Membership of the Alliance now exceeds 35 countries, including most major agricultural nations, and research programmes for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture are underway.
New Zealand along with the United States, worked with Japan with the aim of securing an end to whaling in the Southern Ocean through direct discussions, and continued dialogue in the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Since the reform process in the IWC has been put on hold because of continuing disagreements over the pace and direction of reform, a durable solution for whale conservation is some way off. Nonetheless, Japan cut short its whale hunt in the Southern Ocean in 2011, killing only 172 whales, compared to usual takes of over 400 in recent years and Japan’s self-allocated quotas of approximately 850 whales per annum. New Zealand agreed, in principle, to intervene in the case that Australia has brought to the International Court of Justice, which asserts that Japan’s ‘research’ whaling programme in the Southern Ocean is contrary to the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling.
New Zealand led the UN oceans and marine environment work, chairing the UN Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and Law of the Sea, and championing the organisation of the first global assessment of the marine environment. A New Zealand-led workshop provided crucial legal and scientific input to allow forward momentum on marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, an area under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea highlighted as requiring further work.
New Zealand played a constructive role in the final stages of negotiation that resulted in the adoption of the Nagoya Protocol in October 2010, including chairing sessions on traditional knowledge. This treaty provides a new international framework with implications for those seeking to utilise genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge for research and development. The final text of the Nagoya Protocol provides the flexibility needed for the Government to develop a domestic bio-prospecting regime, and to respond to the Waitangi Tribunal report ‘Wai 262’. It appropriately balances New Zealand’s interests as both a user and provider of genetic resources.
We have continued our strong contribution to international fisheries management, including advancing institutional arrangements for the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) which is on course to start work in 2012. New Zealand hosted the first SPRFMO Preparatory Conference in July 2010 and on 1 June 2011, ratified the Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fishery Resources in the South Pacific (which establishes the SPRFMO). The Ministry worked to advance New Zealand’s interests in the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna, the Western and Central Fisheries Commission and the Forum Fisheries Commission. The Ministry was also active in negotiating resolutions passed by the United Nations General Assembly on fisheries and oceans issues.
Development of a New Zealand proposal to establish a high seas marine protected area in the Ross Sea region under the auspices of the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) progressed significantly in 2011. The Ministry continued to lead New Zealand’s strong contribution to the International Maritime Organisation’s work to develop a mandatory shipping code for vessels operating in polar regions. At the 2011 Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting/Committee for Environmental Protection, New Zealand displayed leadership in a number of areas, including non-native species and the development of frameworks for tourism and non-governmental activities in Antarctica.
According to the latest statistics produced by the CCAMLR Secretariat, the estimated catch taken by illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing from the CCAMLR area increased from 938 tonnes in 2008/09 to 1,615 tonnes in 2009/10. The 2009/10 figure is however still down from previous years. (It should be noted, however, that CCAMLR members have concerns about the reliability of the methodology that produces these figures).
New Zealand has continued to work with CCAMLR to strengthen CCAMLR’s toolkit of measures to combat IUU fishing in the CCAMLR Convention Area. It has also taken steps nationally to deter IUU activities in the Southern Ocean. In 2010/11, New Zealand patrols detected two North Korean flagged IUU vessels. Following diplomatic representations to the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, both of these vessels were removed from the North Korean register.
We have strengthened New Zealand’s UN Security Council campaign through increased lobbying, Ministerial and other visits, regional strategies and a communications strategy. We have developed and implemented vote swap proposals. While the entry of Turkey as a candidate now makes for a contested election in 2014, we have already achieved a substantial number of commitments to New Zealand.
In human rights, we successfully promoted resolutions in priority areas (including maternal mortality, the rights of disabled persons and the death penalty) at both the Human Rights Council and the Third Committee of the General Assembly. We demonstrated our human rights credentials during an oral presentation before the Committee on the Rights of the Child, a visit by the UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights, and the election of a New Zealand judge to the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture.
Pandemic response planning was a reduced priority for us as the risk diminished over the year. We worked with the Ministries of Health and Agriculture to ensure that New Zealand’s trade and foreign policy interests were safeguarded during multilateral engagement on food security, alcohol and tobacco.
Since April 2009, the New Zealand Aid Programme has been working to a refreshed mandate to ‘support sustainable development in developing countries, in order to reduce poverty and contribute to a more secure, equitable and prosperous world’. This is also a key foreign policy objective for the Ministry.
In March 2011 the Ministry published the ‘International Development Policy Statement: Supporting Sustainable Development’. This overarching policy underlines the priority the New Zealand Aid Programme gives to sustainable economic development and the Pacific, and sets out a targeted approach for aid and development in other regions.
The policy statement identifies four themes: investing in economic development; promoting human development; improving resilience and responding to disasters; building safe and secure communities; and sets out the approach to be followed in managing and delivering the aid programme.
2010/11 has been a year of considerable change for the New Zealand Aid Programme, and it is now reintegrated into the Ministry. The New Zealand Aid Programme is managed by the Ministry’s International Development Group, whose staff have specialist expertise in aid policy and programme management. A new business model and staff structure underpins the strategy of fewer, larger and more effective activities supported by simpler business processes focused on results, together with increased oversight and management of implementation of activities by posts.
Our aim is to achieve effective and efficient delivery on the Government’s mandate and priorities for the New Zealand Aid Programme. Actual expenditure against programmes in 2010/11 is set out in the table below.
Programme |
2008/09 |
2009/10 |
2010/11 |
|---|---|---|---|
Cook Islands |
5.5 |
7.4 |
18.8 |
Niue |
11.9 |
11.2 |
23.7 |
Tokelau |
15.4 |
14.6 |
20.5 |
Tonga |
11.4 |
12.7 |
14.2 |
Samoa |
11.4 |
20.4 |
17.9 |
Papua New Guinea |
23.4 |
24.7 |
28.1 |
Solomon Islands |
30.8 |
40.7 |
32.7 |
Vanuatu |
18.5 |
20.7 |
16.3 |
Tuvalu |
6.0 |
2.8 |
1.7 |
Fiji |
3.8 |
4.8 |
4.4 |
Kiribati |
6.7 |
5.9 |
8.8 |
Pacific Environment and Vulnerability |
6.2 |
5.8 |
2.5 |
Pacific Governance |
11.6 |
6.7 |
7.9 |
Pacific Human Development |
12.8 |
8.7 |
11.4 |
Pacific Growth |
10.6 |
11.8 |
12.3 |
Pacific Regional Agencies |
17.1 |
15.8 |
20.7 |
NZ State Sector Development Partnership Fund |
4.6 |
2.1 |
2.2 |
Laos |
2.5 |
2.2 |
3.7 |
Philippines |
4.1 |
4.3 |
5.6 |
Cambodia |
3.2 |
4.2 |
4.4 |
Timor-Leste |
8.1 |
7.4 |
8.5 |
Indonesia |
15.9 |
8.6 |
13.6 |
Viet Nam |
7.4 |
12.6 |
7.9 |
Asia Regional |
11.3 |
10.1 |
8.2 |
Latin America Regional |
4.6 |
5.6 |
4.7 |
Africa Regional |
7.5 |
7.9 |
6.0 |
Humanitarian |
26.0 |
14.1 |
24.6 |
Civil Society |
38.6 |
39.4 |
30.1 |
Multilateral |
92.6 |
93.1 |
123.8 |
Other non-programme |
11.8 |
9.0 |
9.9 |
Grand Total |
461.2 |
435.3 |
495.0 |
The key bilateral partners of the New Zealand Aid Programme are shown below, with basic statistics including the amount of aid they have received from New Zealand and other donors.
New Zealand Aid (NZ $M) |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Population |
GNI per capita, Atlas Method (US$)6 |
Total aid from all Donors |
Net ODA as a percent of GNI 2009 (US$ m)8 |
2008/09 |
2009/10 |
2010/11 |
|
Cook Islands |
0.02 |
9202 |
7.6 |
n.a. |
5.9 |
7.7 |
18.9 |
Niue |
0.00 |
n.a. |
9.0 |
n.a. |
16.9 |
11.2 |
23.7 |
Tokelau |
0.00 |
n.a. |
9.8 |
n.a. |
30.5 |
14.6 |
20.5 |
Samoa |
0.18 |
2840↑ |
77.4 |
16.1 |
11.6 |
21.8 |
18.5 |
Tonga |
0.10 |
3260↑ |
39.5 |
12.4 |
11.5 |
13.0 |
14.6 |
Tuvalu |
0.01 |
2685 |
17.5 |
n.a. |
6.1 |
2.8 |
1.8 |
Papua New Guinea |
6.74 |
1180↑ |
413.7 |
5.3 |
24.3 |
25.1 |
31.4 |
Solomon Islands |
0.53 |
910↓ |
205.9 |
42.9 |
31.3 |
41.1 |
33.4 |
Vanuatu |
0.24 |
2620↑ |
103.3 |
16.5 |
18.8 |
21.0 |
16.7 |
Kiribati |
0.10 |
1830↓ |
27.2 |
15.6 |
6.8 |
6.0 |
8.9 |
Fiji |
0.85 |
3840↓ |
71.1 |
2.5 |
4.9 |
5.8 |
4.5 |
Indonesia |
234.18 |
2050↑ |
1047.6 |
0.2 |
17.0 |
10.2 |
16.4 |
Viet Nam |
86.93 |
1000↑ |
3744.3 |
4.1 |
8.0 |
12.7 |
9.0 |
Timor-Leste |
1.07 |
2460 |
217.0 |
n.a. |
9.5 |
7.8 |
9.4 |
Cambodia |
14.30 |
650↑ |
722.3 |
7.3 |
4.4 |
5.9 |
4.6 |
Philippines |
94.01 |
1790↓ |
310.1 |
0.2 |
5.0 |
5.2 |
5.9 |
Lao PDR |
6.23 |
880↑ |
420.0 |
7.2 |
2.8 |
2.6 |
3.7 |
n.a = data not available
During 2010/11, in line with the government mandate, the amount of ODA (Official Development Assistance) spent on sustainable economic development activities increased by nearly 40% (from $72 million to $100.6 million). There was also an increase in the amount of aid going to the Pacific from $224.6 million to $257.3 million; an increase in the use of higher order aid modalities from 52% to 59%; and an increase in the median annual expenditure on activities from $137,688 to $200,000. These are positive results in line with Government policy directions and the new business model.
As part of the drive to reduce fragmentation and improve aid effectiveness the number of programmes has been reduced from 339 to 24. A good start has also been made in reducing the number of activities to larger, higher impact, more comprehensive ones, and this will continue to be a focal area for efforts in 2011/12.
Results from activity monitoring and completion reports, annual programme reports and the programme of independent evaluations have confirmed the significant impacts of the New Zealand Aid Programme.
Higher level outcomes, such as the Millennium Development Goals10 (MDG), are mostly tracking in a positive direction. The number of Pacific Island countries reported as being either off track or slightly off track to achieving at least half of the MDGs fell from nine to seven. The New Zealand Aid Programme can only claim to have a limited direct impact on such higher level outcomes as these results are dependent on the policies and actions of a large number of partners, particularly the developing countries themselves.
The New Zealand Aid Programme received a positive overall assessment from the OECD following the 2010 Peer Review of its development co operation policies and programmes. The OECD’s Development Assistance Committee noted that “New Zealand boasts an internationally recognised aid programme with specific understanding of the unique Pacific context.”
And while New Zealand is still not meeting all its Paris Declaration Aid Effectiveness targets, there was a positive shift across three of the targets we track.
The high level measures to assess the success of the New Zealand Aid Programme set out in the Statement of Intent 2010–13 are reported on in more detail below.
The table below shows the latest information for a range of important economic indicators for key partner countries. Data quality, particularly in the Pacific, is highly variable and statistics should be treated with caution. In the Pacific, four countries, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu have projected economic growth of more than 2% for 2011. This is an improvement for both Samoa and the Solomon Islands from 2009/10. In the other five Pacific countries, economic growth is not yet sufficient to make inroads into poverty.
Balance of payments figures are unreliable and volatile, and no significant improvements are obvious from recent time series data.
The “ease of doing business” is a key indicator provided by the World Bank. Compared to last year, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vietnam have all shown an improvement in their relative ranking. Other countries have either shown a slight deterioration or no change in their rankings.
While attribution is difficult, this data forms a starting point for a high-level consideration of progress being made towards the development outcomes that New Zealand, together with partner governments, other donors and other partners, is pursuing.
| Ease of doing business ranking |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Programme |
Forecast growth rate of GDP 201112 |
Current account balance |
2010 |
2011 |
|
Cook Islands |
1.1 |
4.9 |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
Samoa |
2.1 |
-8.1 |
67 |
61 |
n.a. |
Tonga |
0.5 |
-5.6 |
66 |
71 |
0.677 |
Tuvalu |
0.0 |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
Papua New Guinea |
8.5 |
-26.6 |
108 |
103 |
0.431 |
Solomon Islands |
7.5 |
-20.0 |
106 |
96 |
0.494 |
Vanuatu |
3.0 |
-2.4 |
59 |
60 |
n.a. |
Kiribati |
2.0 |
-13.7 |
91 |
93 |
n.a. |
Fiji |
1.2 |
-2.3 |
61 |
62 |
0.669 |
Indonesia |
6.3 |
0.9 |
115 |
121 |
0.600 |
Viet Nam |
7.0 |
-4.0 |
88 |
78 |
0.572 |
Timor-Leste |
10.0 |
238.0 |
174 |
174 |
0.502 |
Cambodia |
6.0 |
-11.0 |
145 |
147 |
0.494 |
Philippines |
4.6 |
4.5 |
146 |
148 |
0.638 |
Lao PDR |
7.5 |
-9.0 |
169 |
171 |
0.497 |
n.a = data not available
In the past three years some countries in the Asia and Pacific region, led by high growth rates in parts of Asia, have made substantial progress towards achieving the MDGs and improved levels of human development.
However, many countries are still lagging behind and are struggling to achieve the goals; including several countries in the Pacific region. The overall trend continues to be that the Polynesian countries are performing relatively well; while Kiribati and the Melanesian countries, particularly Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands are not making as much progress.
Overall progress has been made in the number of individual MDGs on track, moving from 37% in 2009/10 to 42% in 2010/11. Progress at country level has also been made in 2010/11, with seven Pacific Island countries (compared to nine countries in 2009/10) considered either off track or slightly off track to achieving at least half of the MDGs.
Seven out of ten countries for which data is available are on track to achieve the MDGs for Reduced Child Mortality and six countries are on track to achieve Universal Primary Education. Five countries are on track for improved Maternal Mortality. Conversely only three countries are on track to achieve the targets for Environmental Sustainability and two countries for Eradicating Extreme Poverty and Hunger and Gender Equality. The most off-track countries are Kiribati and the Solomon Islands, which are either slightly off track or off track across all MDGs. Papua New Guinea is off track across all MDGs.
The high level indicators of economic change and progress towards the MDGs are largely attributable to the performance of the countries themselves with donor support supplementing their efforts.
The New Zealand Aid Programme’s strategies and Joint Commitments for Development (for Pacific countries) set out New Zealand’s specific contribution towards these development outcomes for each country.
Each programme in 2010/11 completed an annual plan and report. The reports include a rating of progress towards the development outcomes set out in programme strategies. For 2010/11, of a total of 126 strategic objectives that were rated, 70% were rated good or better, and 95% were rated as adequate or better.
Drawn from 30 programmes |
Excellent |
Good |
Adequate |
Unsatisfactory |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of objectives |
18 |
70 |
32 |
6 |
126 |
2010/11 |
14% |
56% |
25% |
5% |
100% |
2009/10 |
6% |
62% |
27% |
4% |
100% |
New Zealand Aid Programme action |
Impact |
|---|---|
New Zealand provides assistance to the Solomon Islands to help the government achieve equitable access for all boys and girls to quality basic education by 2015. Specifically, the programme aims to improve literacy and numeracy, increase available teaching resources and improve school infrastructure. Provision of training to over 1,600 teachers has been a key mechanism for achieving these objectives. |
The Solomon Islands has made good progress in education, with the Standard Test of Achievement showing an 11% increase in year 6 students at satisfactory literacy levels or higher. In numeracy, there has been a 5% increase in students at satisfactory levels or higher. There have also been progressive improvements in the gender parity index for all sectors except early childhood education since 2007. In June 2011, Prime Minister Danny Philip commended New Zealand as a significant contributor to the progress made. |
New Zealand Aid Programme action |
Impact |
|---|---|
New Zealand’s programme in Tonga includes support for the transition to a more representative and participatory government. New Zealand has provided support for the Tongan Electoral Commission, election monitoring, civic education and preparation for the 2010 elections. |
Historic changes were made to Tonga’s Constitution. The 2010 elections were implemented peacefully, and declared free and fair by independent electoral monitors. With a voter turn-out of 90%, Tonga is making good progress towards the transition to a more representative and participatory government. New Zealand’s support contributed directly to this result, through provision of an election monitor team, a legal drafter and funding for civic education and broadcasting. |
New Zealand Aid Programme action |
Impact |
|---|---|
New Zealand’s programme in Cambodia focuses on reducing poverty through improved livelihood opportunities and sustainable resource management. The programme promotes building skills and income generation through support for various initiatives including the Cambodian Agribusiness Development Facility, Silk Sector Programme, and Angkor Participatory Natural Resource Management and Livelihoods Programme. |
Agribusiness initiatives have been particularly successful in stimulating economic development through value chain development for smallholder producers of vegetables and pigs. Profits of the 2,300 participating farmers have on average increased by $250 per annum. Similarly, 603 silk weavers have been successfully trained in the technical skills of dyeing, warping and weaving, leading to a 90% increase in volume of sales. |
In late 2010, Activity Monitoring Assessments (AMAs) and Activity Completion Assessments (ACAs) were introduced as part of the New Zealand Aid Programme’s focus on managing for results. The AMAs and ACAs are tools to help actively monitor our activities and track progress against results. They provide measures of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and likely impact and sustainability of benefits. As this is a transition year, there is not yet sufficient data to draw firm conclusions. The indicative data so far indicates positive results around relevance and the most challenges being around efficiency and likely sustainability of benefits.
Examples of our impact from Activity Completion Assessments17 and from independent evaluation reports18
Key lessons from activity evaluations
During 2010/11, the New Zealand Aid Programme redesigned how it manages its activities to enable more effective and efficient administration and strengthen results monitoring and reporting. This included the introduction of the Activity Results Frameworks, which focus on identifying results (outputs and outcomes) and developing strong integrated monitoring and evaluation systems at the start of the activity life cycle. Part of this focus on results is ensuring we capture more comprehensive gender disaggregated data. As of July 2011, the new activity management processes (including the Activity Results Frameworks) have become mandatory for all activities..
New Zealand often works through partnerships with third parties to deliver ODA. This enables the New Zealand Aid Programme to draw on the expertise, knowledge and experience of a variety of different organisations throughout New Zealand and abroad.
In 2010/11, $168.7 million or 34% of the New Zealand Aid Programme was delivered through multilateral organisations, including humanitarian agencies. The largest multilateral recipients are the International Development Association (IDA), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Asian Development Bank (ADF). Channelling aid through effective multilateral agencies can support deeper engagement, greater coherency and harmonisation of aid within a region or sector, and helps reduce the administrative burden of aid for recipient countries. It also enables leveraging of larger scale resourcing to address significant challenges.
New Zealand NGOs also continue to be key partners in the delivery of effective development outcomes. In 2010/11, our partnership with NGOs has been shaped by the introduction of the new Sustainable Development Fund. This Fund prioritises sustainable economic development activities and has a strong Pacific focus. An external selection panel has been appointed to support MFAT, which includes representatives from non-for-profit, private and government sectors. NGOs have also adopted the new business model focused on outputs and results. In 2010/11, the Ministry committed $56 million to NGOs for multi-year projects. Over 50% of the projects funded under the Sustainable Development Fund have a focus on the Pacific and on economic development.
Trade Aid Importers |
|---|
Trade Aid Importers (TAI) is a New Zealand-based NGO and fair-trade organisation that works to maximise returns to partners through successful trading. TAI operates in collaboration with local partners across Asia-Pacific, Africa and Central America to develop commodity and handicraft livelihood opportunities. An independent evaluation in 2010 found that the support provided to local producers has resulted in improved quality and quantity of handicraft and commodity production and increased incomes for producer communities. The evaluation concluded that the TAI provides good value for money and successfully contributes to sustainable economic development. Source: Gray, A. & Cretney, M. 2010. Independent Review of Trade Aid Importers. |
Pakistan floods: Humanitarian Response |
|---|
The Pakistan floods crisis in July 2010 affected over 20 million people. In response the UN launched its largest ever Flash Appeal of US$1.9billion. New Zealand supported the Flash Appeal by providing $2 million to United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and $1 million to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF.) New Zealand also provided $500,000 to the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) and $100,000 to each of five New Zealand NGOs. UNOCHA scaled up rapidly and coordinated an international response, reaching 20 million people. School supplies and temporary learning centres, provided by UNICEF, enabled more than 260,000 children to continue their education and in many cases attend school for the first time. With New Zealand Aid Programme support, the IFRC provided food and shelter to over 1.3 million people, and health care, water and sanitation and livelihood recovery assistance to a further 1.2 million. In addition the five New Zealand NGOs were able to provide humanitarian assistance to more than 70,000 people. Source: 2011 OCHA Annual report; March 2011 DEC Real-Time Evaluation report of the 2010 Pakistan floods; 8 April 2011, IFRC, Pakistan Monsoon Flash floods operations update no. 13; 2011, UNICEF, Pakistan update titles “After the floods, new schools provide normalcy and opportunities for communities in Pakistan”; NGO Final Humanitarian Response Fund reports. |
Pacific Financial Technical Assistance Centre |
|---|
The Pacific Financial Technical Assistance Centre (PFTAC) is an International Monetary Fund initiative supported by the New Zealand Aid Programme and other donors. PFTAC’s objective is to build the macroeconomic and fiscal policy capacity of Pacific island countries and regional organisations. The Centre provides quality technical advice and practical support in four focus areas: public financial management, revenue policy and administration, financial sector supervision and macro-economics. An independent evaluation in 2009 found that PFTAC delivers high quality, effective and efficient services and is widely recognised as one of the most effective regional technical assistance organisation in the area. While substantial institutional change will take time, PFTACs services were found to be rapid, flexible and responsive to Pacific Island government priorities. The Centre has contributed to tangible improvements in financial capacity and performance of many Pacific island governments and institutions. Source: Murray, B., Abrams, R., & Vaai, K. (2009). Independent Evaluation of the Pacific Financial Technical Assistance Centre. International Monetary Fund. |
The Ministry is responsible for assisting New Zealanders in distress overseas, including in the event of a natural disaster or other large-scale emergency. The Ministry also seeks to mitigate risks to New Zealanders by raising the awareness of New Zealanders travelling and living overseas of the importance of preparedness, and of the Ministry’s consular role.
The primary test of whether the Ministry has protected the rights of New Zealanders abroad is whether the recipients of consular services are satisfied with the assistance provided – whether they consider their rights have been protected.
It was a busy year for consular emergencies. Key events were the floods and Cyclone Yasi in Australia; unrest in North Africa and the Middle East involving evacuation of New Zealanders from Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Syria and Yemen; and the Japan earthquake and tsunami.
We accounted for over 2,000 New Zealanders thought to be in Japan at the time of the earthquake. We also played a central role in the February Christchurch earthquake response, liaising with foreign governments whose nationals were caught up in the earthquake and coordinating offers of assistance from overseas.
We also provide a routine consular service to individual New Zealanders in distress overseas. During 2010/11 we provided consular assistance to 2,446 New Zealanders (a 10.5% increase over last year), as well as responding to general consular enquiries from 54,812 other New Zealanders across 53 posts.
The figure above illustrates that the growth rate in the number of new consular cases outpaces the growth in short-term departures by New Zealand residents. The number of consular cases per 100,000 short-term New Zealand travellers grew from 98 in 2009/10 to 103 in 2010/11.
The Ministry’s document authentification services remained in high demand. We helped 10,384 New Zealanders, including exporters, to meet other governments’ requirements.
This year, we contracted an independent research company to conduct a client satisfaction survey for consular services. The results painted a very positive picture.
A total of 83% of respondents who had been recipients of consular services over the twelve months to May 2011 were satisfied with their service experience. This puts the service in the top 30% of government services that have used the Common Measures Tool as a performance benchmark.
[1] Not available, based on 2008 data only.
[2] Not available for full set of five indicators.
[3] For example exchange rate pressures that serve to slow export growth (and depending on the rate of economic growth, the export to GDP ratio) could undermine efforts to negotiate better market access in offshore markets for our traders.
[4] Given the lack of bilateral services export data we are unable, at this stage, to include service exports. As better bilateral services export data become available over time we would look to build this into the analysis.
[5] Population: ADB Basic Statistics 2011.
[6] GNI Per Capita, Atlas Method: ADB Basic Statistics 2011.
[7] Total Aid from All Donors: DAC, Development Co-operation Directorate Aid Statistics.
[8] Net ODA as a Percent of GNI: World Bank: World Development Indicators.
[9] The programme table above amalgamates some small regional programmes. This means it adds to 30 programmes rather than the official 33 in the programme framework.
[10] The Millennium Development Goals are: eradicate poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat malaria, HIV and TB; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership for development. Each of these goals has relevant quantitative targets, available from UN websites and elsewhere.
[11] Ease of Doing Business Ranking 2011: World Bank Group: Doing Business 2011.
[12] Forecast Growth Rate of GDP 2011: ADB Pacific Economic Monitor July 2011 and ADB Asia Economic Monitor December 2010.
[13] Current Account Balance 2010 (% of GDP): ADB Basic Statistics 2011.
[14] Human Development Index Values 2010: UNDP 2010 Rankings.
[15] The closer the value is to one, the better the country ranking. The methodology for calculating the HDI was substantially revised in 2010, making comparison with earlier years of limited value.
[16] Detailed assessment by country against MDGs can be found in the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Annual Report 2010.
[17] Examples drawn from Activity Completion Assessments (ACAs); examples were not drawn from Activity Monitoring Assessments (AMAs) because of the difficulty in drawing accurate conclusions around the impacts of projects that are yet to be completed.
[18] Findings drawn from the 24 independent evaluations completed in 2010