New Zealand’s PM John Key arrives in PH for Apec
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has arrived in Manila on Tuesday to attend the high-level Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Economic Leaders’ meeting.
Key, who has been in office since 2008, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 at 2:06 p.m.
Key is the 38th prime minister of New Zealand.
Before becoming prime minister, he ventured into foreign exchange market industry, holding key positions in the public and private sectors, which include being a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
He then became a representative in Parliament and a leader of the Opposition in New Zealand.
Under his government, he pushed for the withdrawal of New Zealand troops in Afghanistan and signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement with the United States.
In a recent interview, Key expressed hope that more nations will join the TPP.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt that TPP will be a focal point for the discussions at APEC, primarily because it has been successfully concluded. Leaders will want to celebrate that and to talk about the next stage of implementation of TPP and ratification of TPP,” Key was quoted in saying in a Radio New Zealand report on Tuesday.
Aside from New Zealand, Brunei, Singapore and Chile also agreed to sign the TPP.
Furthermore, Key said that the South China Sea dispute and the aftermath of the deadly Paris attacks will likely be discussed at the sidelines of the Apec summit. RAM
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