ASEAN Business Leaders Forum likely to be first of many

Ruth Le Pla reports from the recent ASEAN Business Leaders Forum, which was held in Auckland and hosted by the Office of Ethnic Affairs.

New Zealand’s ASEAN business community will likely see more networking events following positive feedback from delegates at the first forum held in Auckland recently.

Mervin Singham, director of the Office of Ethnic Affairs, Department of Internal Affairs, says people attending the forum have called for a series of such events.

“Some people wanted the business councils brought together. Others wanted information forums about emerging opportunities,” he says.

“We are preparing a summary of what everyone said and will talk with the minister [Minister for Ethnic Affairs, Pansy Wong] and other agencies with a view to doing something collaboratively.”

Mr Singham says no timeframe has yet been fixed for any follow-up sessions. “But we expect to see something happen from June/July onwards.”

The Office of Ethnic Affairs hosted the ASEAN Business Leaders Forum on March 19 in response to a call for help in building links between mainstream and ASEAN business people in New Zealand.

Closed-door sessions

The forum included presentations from Minister of Trade Tim Groser, financial commentator Rod Oram and Minister Wong, before proceeding to a closed-door group ‘think-tank’ session at which delegates discussed four key questions.

• What are the business opportunities within the ASEAN region that participants may not yet be aware of and how can these opportunities be seized?

• What are some of the potential pitfalls for aspiring New Zealand companies engaging in the region and what can be done about them?

• What practical steps can New Zealand mainstream and ASEAN-linked businesses take to build connections and maximise trade opportunities?

• How can the government help?

Forum participant Mitchell Pham, director of Augen Software Group, described the session as ‘very refreshing’.

“I’ve never been to a government-driven event before where ASEAN people have been in the majority and the target audience.”

Mr Pham said he is aware of a number of synergies stemming from the forum.

He recommended that more such get-togethers be held in Auckland and in other parts of the country.

“It seems to be the right way to form a semi-formal network of ASEAN business people.

“The next step would be for more New Zealand business people to join up with the network. We’d then see a whole new level of activity.”

'Heartening'

Sylvia Cheah, vice-president of the New Zealand-Malaysia Business Council, said it was ‘heartening’ to hear Mr Singham summarising what many people have been saying for some time.

“[There is a] need to link small and medium-sized enterprises with Chambers of Commerce. It is important that we disseminate information around all interested parties. And we need to address the current lack of connectivity amongst businesses and agencies.”

She added that the Office of Ethnic Affairs plays a vital role.

“It’s the bridge - it has the ear of the Minister and the Government and it has deep roots in the ethnic communities and the most important ministries. It can make this thing happen.”

At the forum, Minister Wong said the big question remains how New Zealand can maximise opportunities developed through free trade agreements with Asian economies, including ASEAN.

“The answer lies within New Zealand’s ethnic diversity,” she said. “Ethnic diversity not only brings social and cultural richness, but also economic richness to our country.

“Within our ethic communities are linguistic and cultural expertise, business knowledge and international connections. Within these communities are new and innovative ideas and ways of doing things.”

Minister Wong said approximately 18 percent of New Zealand’s population speaks two or more languages and about 23 percent of our people were born overseas.

“Think of this: ASEAN represents our third biggest export market, is worth US$3.1 billion to our economy and makes up 12 percent of our export markets.

“However, New Zealand imports make up just 0.34 percent of imports to countries within the ASEAN group - which shows plenty of room for growth.”

Minister Wong said there was no set target for growth but doubling this figure would be a ‘good start’.

'An iconic point'

Minister of Trade Tim Groser spoke of an ‘iconic point’ in the future when a New Zealand Minister of Trade would be able to say that ASEAN was worth more as a market collectively than the EU 27.

“Given the income growth that we now see in Southeast Asia and the Asia Pacific generally, it will be not too many years before that happens.”

He pointed out that we now sell more to ASEAN in one week than we sold in one year in 1975.

“In the early 1970s, the share of total New Zealand exports to the EU was around 50 percent and less than 5 percent for Southeast Asia.

“Today, the share of New Zealand exports going to the EU is 13 percent: and to ASEAN it is now 11 percent.”

Financial commentator Rod Oram said New Zealand’s critical challenge is how to earn more.

“The government’s goal is to catch up with Australian GDP per capita by 2025. The domestic market is too small to drive that. We need to double the value of our exports.”

Our dairy industry – with its current strategy of incremental productivity increases – would not be able to double the value of its exports in real terms, he said.

Nor could the tourism industry – with its current reliance on a surge of short-stay Australians – double its earnings.

Mr Oram said New Zealand must learn to manage a series of ‘seismic shifts’ that are creating a new international playing field.

These include changing patterns of demand, a shift towards budget pricing, a call for more responsive customer service, and a greater need for partnerships rather than transactions.

- by Ruth Le Pla

Upcoming event:

‘Expanding Trade and Economic Linkages with Southeast Asia’. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise are holding a business seminar in Auckland on April 15.