WTO Ministers Meeting

I will attend a meeting of World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministers in Norway this weekend. My visit will be an opportunity to discuss ways to reinvigorate WTO negotiations and set the agenda for the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires in 2017.

Faced with rising protectionist sentiment around the globe, we need to strengthen the WTO and ensure a robust agenda for global trade negotiations that continues to drive growth and prosperity.

In Oslo, I will chair a ministerial meeting on the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA). When concluded, TiSA will reduce red tape, boost business mobility and secure market access for Australian businesses. Increasing Australian services exports is a key part of the Turnbull Government's national economic plan to create jobs and drive economic growth.

At the meeting I will also work with my counterparts toward the conclusion of negotiations for the Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA). When concluded, the EGA will reduce tariffs on goods that contribute to a cleaner environment and improve access to safe water, sanitation and electricity. Global trade in environmental goods is more than US$3 trillion and growing.

I will also visit the Netherlands, our second-largest merchandise export market in the European Union (EU) and an important source of investment, to build support for the launch of negotiations for an Australia-EU Free Trade Agreement and to find ways to strengthen our bilateral investment relationship.