KEY POINTS:
A proposed free-trade agreement with Korea has cleared an early hurdle, a joint study concluding that it would bring substantial benefits to both countries.
Trade Minister Phil Goff said the next step would be for the two Governments to meet in April to explore the study's findings with the researchers and consider what actions should follow.
The study, by the Institute of Economic Research, the Centre for International Economics and the Korean Institute of International Economic Policy, was commissioned by the two Governments in December 2006.
It remains under wraps, as Korea is in the throes of a political transition. Its new President, Lee Myung-bak, takes office next week.
Bilateral trade between New Zealand and Korea was just over $2.5 billion last year and was fairly evenly balanced.
The executive director of the International Business Forum, Stephen Jacobi, said Korea had become something of a poster boy for trade liberalisation in the Asia-Pacific region.
It had negotiated a free-trade agreement with the United States which was awaiting ratification by Congress.
If it was ratified it would give American beef exporters a significant advantage over their New Zealand counterparts in an important market, just as a free-trade agreement between Korea and Chile gave Chilean kiwifruit growers an advantage.
"We must make sure New Zealand is not left behind as regional trade agreements proliferate," Jacobi said.
Korea would be an obvious and welcome addition to the P4 agreement that links New Zealand, Chile, Singapore and Brunei, especially if - as Washington has indicated might be possible - it was expanded to include the United States.
