Kiwi companies look to ‘the new China’
Business are being encouraged to look to ASEAN as ‘‘the new China’’, as it moves towards becoming the fastest growing region in the world.
In 2009 New Zealand signed a free trade agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which comprises Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
Speaking at an event in Auckland, ANZ’s chief economist for the Asia Pacific, Glenn Maguire, said ASEAN had been overshadowed by China.
While the Chinese growth story had been hugely important in recent years, it was starting to slow. Maguire said ASEAN was the ‘‘middle child’’ of the three pillars of growth in Asia, sandwiched between China and India.
‘‘It’s misunderstood and it’s a little bit underappreciated.’’
Maguire said ASEAN’s growth rate of 5 per cent was expected to pick up to 7.5 per cent over the next 10 to 15 years, which would make it the fastest growing economic unit in the world.
By that time, it would have become as important to New Zealand as China is now.
An ‘‘economic community’’ to be formed by the end of this year will see a free flow of capital and labour between the 10 countries.
Maguire said New Zealand’s comparative advantage, besides proximity, was that officials had done their homework and knew what was coming.
‘‘No economy has done as much work and as much research in preparing for the ASEAN economic community as New Zealand.’’
Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce, who also spoke at the event, said ASEAN had a population of over 600 million people.
The fast-growing area presented a real opportunity for New Zealand, he said. ‘‘It takes realistic planning, frankly plenty of time, hard work, guts and money to succeed in these markets, but the payoff is going to be massive.’’
This year is the 40th anniversary of New Zealand’s dialogue relationship with ASEAN.
Forty people are to be honoured for their work deepening relationships with the region.