The Southeast Asia Centre of Asia-Pacific Excellence, in collaboration with Asia Forum, invites you to attend this upcoming session at Victoria University of Wellington (Pipitea campus), featuring guest speaker Vangelis Vitalis, Deputy Secretary, Trade and Economic at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The in-person option for this event will be preceded and followed by refreshments and networking.

Synopsis

The global trade scene is marked by rising trade protectionism, geopolitical tensions, war in Ukraine, and natural disasters. New Zealand, despite being geographically distant from the rest of the world, has had its fair share of these challenges. Uncertainty looms large in 2023 and beyond, as the global economy seeks to recover from the pandemic. What does this mean for past efforts, impact, and trade trajectory for New Zealand? How has New Zealand responded? What are the contingencies planned? Join us for a discussion to be led by Vangelis Vitalis.

Keynote Speaker:

Vangelis Vitalis is Deputy Secretary, Trade and Economic at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He was the APEC2021 Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) Chair for New Zealand’s host year and in 2023 Vangelis will be chairing the Senior Officials’ process that supports the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Ministerial meetings. Vangelis was also the Chief Negotiator who led the conclusion of negotiations for the New Zealand European Union Free Trade Agreement and before that the CPTPP. In 2007-2009, Vangelis was also the Chief Negotiator who concluded the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) and the Malaysia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (MNZFTA).

Prior to taking up his current role in 2017, Vangelis was the New Zealand Ambassador to the EU and most recently New Zealand’s Permanent Representative to the WTO in Geneva where he chaired the agriculture negotiations in a personal capacity, including helping to draft the text of the Nairobi Ministerial Decision which eliminated agricultural export subsidies. Vangelis has previously worked as an economist at the OECD Secretariat and has chaired (in a personal capacity) the OECD Working Party on Trade and the Environment and the OECD Global Forum on Trade and Climate Change.