Trade plan creates group export push

New Zealand’s trade balance made for disappointing reading superficially this week. The non-seasonally adjusted deficit was minus $18m, when markets were expecting a surplus of $180m. February has been a buoyant month for the trade balance for the last ten years. How could experts have got it so wrong is one question, but fortunately, it appears the underlying markers are good.

Imports put in a strong performance and while exports took a hit, it appears that a combination of seasonality and the high NZ dollar Trade Weighted Index (TWI) - a measure of the currency exchange rate - was to blame.

Unsurprisingly, China remained the standout market, with exports up nearly 12 per cent in the three months to February. But it was reassuring to see that China wasn’t the only trade area performing well. South-East Asia was also on the rise with Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines proving to be growing destinations for Kiwi goods.

With New Zealand’s goal of having exports contributing 40 per cent of GDP by 2025 getting nearer by the day, bold action was

needed.

And amazingly, we appear to have got it.

The later release of the Government’s Trade Agenda 2030 was well timed, and reflected a commitment and a multi-million dollar spend on developing more diverse trading partnerships.

Particularly welcome news to exporters would have been the promise to fully exploit existing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), find new ones and focus on nontariff barriers. The creation of a single contact, where exporters could help the government identify new non-tariff barriers was creative, as was the announcement of a ministerial advisory group to better inform the public about trade.

It was joined-up thinking which is trying to involve the government, public and business in a sort of trade-boosting, tradesavvy community. As Kim Campbell, boss of the Employers and Manufacturers Association said: ‘‘We need to keep tackling our trade agenda head-on.’’