Islands Business - Business: GROWING TRADE BETWEEN NZ AND ISLANDS

Pacific Expo to focus on trade imbalance.

Dev Nadkarni
The New Zealand Pacific Business Council (NZPBC)-organised Pacific Expo gets underway on 13-14 March in Manukau City. The two-day expo is one of the largest to be hosted in New Zealand.

To be held at one of Manukau's newest convention centres, the expo has been scheduled closely on the heels of Auckland's hugely popular Pasifika Festival.

NZPBC chairman Gilbert Ullrich.

This event is the first major initiative of the NZPBC, which was established last year with the objective of promoting and facilitating two-way trade with the Pacific islands nations. “It is our policy to grow two-way trade and in doing so acknowledge that there is a special long-standing relationship between New Zealand and the Pacific islands,” says NZPBC chairman Gilbert Ullrich.

New Zealand's merchandised trade with Pacific countries-at NZ$1.1 billion-is not insignificant and that figure does account for the consulting and services industry.

“We are hopeful that the NZ merchandise trades figures will be well maintained in the Pacific and even grow. Likewise, we would expect the same for the Pacific countries and the products that they export into New Zealand.”

Pacific islands trade to New Zealand has slipped over the years and one of the trade expo's main objectives is to give this a long-needed boost.

“There is a billion dollar trade imbalance that needs to be corrected,” remarks Manukau City Council's business development and investment manager, David J. Flett.

“Exposing Pacific products and services and creating much-needed awareness in the New Zealand market as is being planned in the forthcoming expo, is a good beginning.

“The biggest problem is the short timeframe in which we had to organise this year's expo,” says Ullrich.

Considering that this is the first time the event has been organised, the promoters have done well in roping in as many as 57 organisations (both private sector and government) from 13 Pacific islands countries to participate. The biggest delegations will be from French Polynesia, Fiji and Samoa.

“We're sold out,” says NZPBC executive officer Richard Margueret. “We have 110 participants in all, nearly half of them from the islands and there is a waiting list.”

The event has been planned as a high profile one with New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark expected to attend (she individually invited the heads of state of all the islands nations to send in their teams to participate).

“The expo has the strong endorsement of Prime Minister Helen Clark and Winnie Laban, Associate Minister of Pacific Islands Affairs and Associate Minister for Economic Development,” he adds. Over 5000 visitors are expected to attend the expo.

The Pacific Islands Trade and Investment Commission (PITIC) and the city councils of Manukau, Waitakere and Auckland are major sponsors of the expo.

“The expo should be a private sector-driven event for the benefit of the private sector in New Zealand and the islands,” says PITIC trade commissioner Chris Cocker.

“There is definitely more interest from New Zealand companies becoming involved with their maturing awareness of the Pacific countries, especially for merchandise exports and opportunities with some of the large developments underway,” comments Ullrich.

“Examples are the flourishing tourist industry in Fiji, the new nickel smelter development in New Caledonia, and the continuing development in the Guam/Micronesian area for the US naval and military bases, in addition to aid projects.”

Says Michelle Khan, Pasifika development manager of Auckland City Council: “We are looking at strengthening Pacific business to business communities within the Auckland region to the benefit of the Auckland regional economy.”

Manukau's Flett says an increase in bilateral trade will grow jobs both within Manukau city and the islands. The council works closely with NZPBC in organising trade delegations to the Pacific islands.

They have already led delegations to the Cook Islands and Samoa with French Polynesia and New Caledonia on the cards in the current year.

Many of the Pacific islands countries are participating under the umbrella of their respective governmental authorities. Samoa, for instance, is expected to send 10 members of the newly-formed Samoa Garments & Elei Designs Manufacturers Association, which has 10 companies participating in the trading and exchanges of business ideas, says Samoa's trade commissioner, Va'atu'itu'i Apete Meredith.

The members hope to use this opportunity to showcase their products and secure new markets from the countries attending this expo.

The expo may well result in bringing together Pacific Islands nations to trade with each other.
Anticipating this, Ullrich says, “We will also be seeking better outcomes for third markets and regions where we can have greater collaboration.”

The NZPBC plans to build on this first year's experience. “Next year, we will certainly be looking at a good promotional 6-9 months forward programme,” says Ullrich.