World trade expo flops before leaders' summit

By Dita De Boni

A trade expo with an Apec theme, touted as a "global handshake," has failed to pull patrons from New Zealand's business community in the week before the leaders' summit.

Organised by the New Zealand franchise of the World Trade Centre, the Apec Trade Fair, held at Ellerslie Convention Centre, has left franchise holder Lloyd Tran $55,000 out of pocket.

It has also disgruntled New Zealand booth holders and left international participants disappointed in the apathy shown by this country's business community.

Mr Tran was unavailable for comment due to a family illness, but World Trade Centre spokeswoman Tracey Evington believed that despite the best efforts of Mr Tran and a $40,000 direct marketing campaign to all local CEOs, "we may have been too far ahead of the minds of New Zealand business."

Tracey Evington conceded a proper marketing and publicity blitz was conducted "too late" - her firm being hired to do public relations just four weeks before the event began. But she said the World Trade Centre advertised in all major business publications as well as on the internet.

"Although there was genuine interest leading up to the event, there was no commitment," she said.

"Perhaps that is something to do with the fact that it was aligned with a politically charged event such as Apec."

At $3600 a booth plus GST, expenses to stay in the city and associated costs, participants were led to believe they would be meeting industry leaders from most of the 21 Apec countries.

A press pamphlet said the fair would offer an "unparalleled opportunity for your company to showcase ... to an international audience of decisionmakers."

But far from the 100 booths the World Trade Centre had originally planned to oversee, only 20 were finally occupied and only eight of those represented internationally based companies.

Tracey Evington said Mr Tran thought the trade fair might be in trouble around the time she was hired, but decided to "take the risk and do it anyhow."

While only about 150 people attended the actual trade show, a "decent" number attended concurrent seminars featuring well-placed corporates such as Advantage, Microsoft and Environmental Biotech USA.

Mr Tran was also reportedly disappointed by the lack of support from the Apec task force and the Government to stage the business-boosting event.

One Government official who did not want to be named said although Trade NZ had been approached to support the event, it had decided not to do so. It chose instead to help host various events around the country as well as a business symposium at the time of the trade ministers' meeting in August.

The Government had also been wary because a similar trade fair held in Kuala Lumpur during Apec 1998 had been a flop, he said.

When asked in Parliament by Labour's Michael Cullen about the Government's lack of involvement in the expo, Enterprise and Commerce Minister Max Bradford told the House that funding had been routed to the CEO summit which would "do more for trade than anything [Dr Cullen] is talking about."

Mr Bradford also accused the World Trade Centre of using the Apec logo without official endorsement. The organisers had proceeded "regardless of the advice they were given."

Tracey Evington said the third party in the troubled affair - the expo participants - left "disappointed and feeling New Zealand was a little backwards in their business thinking."

But unlike the business community the media had been "very enthusiastic" and had given two of the international guests, Robert Latko, CEO of the Global Board of Trade, and Cheong Yuk Wai, CEO of Hitechniaga e-commerce, extensive coverage.

She said that as a result the pair had decided New Zealand was an "undeveloped territory" in e-commerce and were planning a return visit despite the low turnout.