Australian-style help mooted for exporters

By PHILIPPA STEVENSON agricultural editor

New Zealand could adopt Australian-style assistance for exporters to boost the country's low commitment to exports, says Trade NZ.

In a post-election briefing paper, Trade NZ said the issue for New Zealand was to increase an export base which was vital for the country's growth.

The state agency charged with fostering the development and expansion of New Zealand's foreign exchange earnings said the challenge was to ensure the country's export base was exporting sustainably, "and not simply dabbling when the domestic economy has gone soggy".

The value of exports also needed to rise beyond the commodity and hobby level.

Australia had substantially increased its assistance to new exporters in a recent Budget package which sought to boost the numbers of those intending to export and the success rate of those who did.

A similar approach could be explored in New Zealand but Trade NZ and companion bodies needed more resources, the agency said.

Coordination with other economic development agencies would help develop more businesses earlier to the stage where they could consider profitable and sustained internationalisation strategies.

Research commissioned from Infometrics showed that, despite the diversification of markets in the past 20 years, New Zealand still relied on a handful of traditional export destinations: Australia, the US, Japan and Europe.

Over the next two to three years, European markets were expected to slowly gain momentum, and Australia was forecast to continue performing strongly. However, growth in the US market, while healthy, might be undermined if the US sharemarket slump undermined American consumer confidence.

The Japanese market was still fragile, but remained a large one for New Zealand.

China had major promise for New Zealand and exports to it would continue to increase, Trade NZ said.

Trade Negotiations Minister Jim Sutton said the Government's most important task in the next three years would be to improve the conditions for growth. Increasing the number of exporters, and widening and deepening exports would play a key role.

By adopting an appropriate mix of policies between the two extremes of hands-on and hands-off government, it would be possible to return New Zealand to the top half of the developed world, Sutton said.

The Doha Development round of world trade negotiations was an ideal opportunity for New Zealand to achieve goals of eliminating agricultural export subsidies, reducing tariff barriers, and increasing market access. More trade missions with accompanying business delegations would be made during the next three years so that New Zealand's export effort could be properly focused.