World Report

t was Britain’s entry into the European Union that marked the turning point in New Zealand’s trading relations with the rest of the world. Previously, the key market for its agricultural produce was Britain.
“New Zealand didn’t have to go out and aggressively find new markets,” says Fran Wilde, chief executive
of Trade New Zealand (NZ), the government trade development arm.

Wilde
‘We are interested in getting businesses to move to our country’

“Following Britain’s entry to the EU, we found it a lot harder and I believe the economic reforms of the mid-1980s were inevitable. They forced New Zealand’s companies to become more competitive – by being competitive, they were able to export overseas more successfully.”
The deregulation of the economy entailed the cessation of government subsidies. It was a traumatic time for agriculture and manufacturing.
“Prior to the reforms, New Zealand had been a highly-regulated economy, possibly the most regulated in the Western world. The reforms were made by a Labour government, which was most unexpected.”

Agricultural produce still underpins the economy but more of the raw materials are now processed, adding value to the product, says Ms Wilde. The IT and software sector began to emerge in the 1990s, and it was later realised that technology developed in certain sectors, such as dairy processing, could also be exported.
“We now have some very high-value precision-engineering companies,” she says. “It is niche manufacturing. This all came about because we were forced to be competitive and raise production standards. We were forced to diversify our production base and look to earn our way in the world.”
Trade NZ was formed in 1988. “The Labour government of the day wanted to have an active and much more commercial trade promotion agency, but now we are really a consultancy,” says Ms Wilde.

Trade NZ is represented in about 35 countries, often by just the one New Zealander, and some overseas offices are completely run by locals. “New Zealand will never be able to compete with the world’s mass manufacturers, but we are not really interested in that,” she says.
“What we are interested in is getting businesses to move to our country, and these will be run by people involved in the service industries and technology. And, since September 11, we have had a lot more enquiries from people who want to come and live here.”
Trade NZ keeps in contact with many of the estimated one million expatriate New Zealanders. “We work quite closely with the Kiwis living overseas because we have always used them as our ‘spies’.
They assist us with introductions and so on,” she adds.

Part of Trade NZ is Investment NZ, the country’s international investment facilitation agency. Apart from administering grants, Investment NZ acts as a one-stop shop for potential investors, providing information
and advice.
The agency takes advantage of the country’s consistent rating at, or near, the top of the “best place in the world to live” surveys.
While wages are higher in the United States and Australia, many people choose to migrate to New Zealand because of the lifestyle and the stunning scenery.