Trade minister takes pulse on EU deal

A future free trade deal with the European Union is on the agenda for Trade Minister Steve Ciobo.

Trade Minister Steve Ciobo will sound out the political and business appetite for an Australia-European Union free trade agreement when he visits Hungary, France and Switzerland in coming days.

In Budapest, Mr Ciobo will meet members of the Visegrad Group, comprising Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia and representing a combined GDP of more than $1 trillion.

He'll then go on to Paris to meet with members of the French National Assembly and French business leaders.

In Davos, the minister will meet EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom at the World Economic Forum, before heading into a meeting of the World Trade Organisation ministers in which he will promote an Australian-led e-commerce initiative.

Agreement was reached on starting the process towards an EU agreement in November 2015.

Australian and EU officials have been completing a joint scoping exercise and are working towards the launch of formal negotiations.

The EU, as a bloc, is one of Australia's most important trading partners with total two-way trade in goods and services worth $99.5 billion.

The EU is also Australia's largest sources of foreign investment, with a total stock worth more than a trillion dollars in 2016.

Mr Ciobo will also visit the United Arab Emirates to discuss trade in agriculture and education.


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Source: AAP



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