Asia a blank spot for many Kiwis
Survey shows most know little or nothing about important region
Many New Zealanders know little or nothing about Asia, despite recognising the region as important to our future, a survey has found.
The Asia NZ Foundation’s New Zealanders’ Perceptions of Asia and Asian Peoples survey also finds many here do not have confidence in engaging with Asia.
Two-thirds of respondents said they knew little or nothing about Asia, a figure that did not improve from last year.
The annual survey has been running for two decades, and interviews a random sample of 1000 Kiwis aged 15 years and over.
Eight out of 10 said Asia was important to New Zealand in economic and social terms, but just a third said they knew a fair amount or a lot about Asia.
This figure was lower than for Australia, Europe, the South Pacific and North America.
“We don’t back ourselves in our knowledge of Asia,” said Simon Draper, the foundation’s executive director.
“The foundation suspects this is because the more someone may learn about Asia, the more they realise they don’t know enough. Asia is a large and very diverse region.”
Draper said Kiwis risked missing out on the growing opportunities in Asia because knowledge and under- Those who KNOWALOT or a fair amount about Asia Those who KNOWLITTLE or almost nothing about Asia standing of Asia were key factors.
“Success with Asia is built on relationships, not just transactions,” Draper said. “Without this understanding — and the confidence to give it a go — we risk missing out on opportunities not only in business development and trade, but also in education, career development and travel.
“We have work to do in addressing this confidence deficit, as it affects our ability to develop relationships and engage well in the region.”
The survey also found those who knew more of Asia were also more likely to report more positive feelings about Asia and Asian people.
A high number, or eight in 10, also felt schoolchildren should learn a language other than English. More than half, or 53 per cent, said that language should be Chinese and about a fifth said Japanese.
The foundation’s deputy chairman, Steve Maharey, a former vicechancellor of Massey University, said New Zealand’s education system was “fundamentally Eurocentric”.
Maharey said increasing curriculum content about Asian cultures, improving access to Asian languages, increasing the number of Asian teachers and encouraging first-hand experiences in Asia were ways to prepare young Kiwis.
Rob Fyfe, chief executive of Icebreaker and the foundation’s honorary adviser, said business people he interacted with expected Asia to become more important in the near future for New Zealand in the light of developments in America and Europe.