John Key meets Barack Obama

Prime Minister John Key has confirmed he had a short meeting with United States President Barack Obama at a dinner at the Apec summit in Singapore overnight.

Mr Key said he thanked United States president Barack Obama for promising to restart trade talks that will include New Zealand.

"We had quite a fruitful discussion. I thanked him for the progress on the Trans-Pacific partnership. He said he was looking forward to working with New Zealand and making progress on the trade front; that America was committed to that and that he saw a brighter future in that regard."

Officials would start work this evening on the free trade talks that look to expand the existing TPP, which links New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei and Chile.

"So there's real commitment on the US side to see this progressing now."

In combination with existing trade deals it positioned New Zealand "brilliantly for growth in the next 10 to 20 years".

It was potentially worth billions of dollars to New Zealand.

He said he would not rule out a deal by 2011, when the US is scheduled to host the Apec summit As well as the US, Australia, Peru and Vietnam are also interested in joining, and it was the preference of New Zealand and the US for those eight to hammer out a deal before it was expanded further.

"The jewel in the crown for us is the United States," Mr Key said.

Leaders at the Apec summit see the TPP as a stepping stone to the ultimate goal of a region-wide Asia-Pacific free trade zone known as the FTAAP.

Meanwhile, Mr Key this morning joined 12 other Apec leaders, including Mr Obama and China's President Hu Jintao, at a breakfast meeting called by Australia and Mexico to discuss climate change ahead of the crucial Copenhagen talks next month.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen would join them at the breakfast, Mr Key said.

- © Fairfax NZ News