Taiwan trade delegation at Business Hub

Mixing after the ANZTEC roadshow are kiwifruit grower John Ericksen (left), Johnny Liu of the Three Shine Trading Co, Dean Prebble, trade commissioner for Taipei, Peter Meyer of Bioregan and Mey Jiao Lin of Back to Nature. Photo / Paul Taylor

Hawke's Bay producers have strengthened ties with Taiwan after local producers and exporters met with a delegation of Taiwanese business people at the Hawke's Bay Business Hub on Thursday.

Hosted by ExportNZ, it enabled seven members of the Taipei importer-exporter association to talk directly with Hawke's Bay businesses as part of a week-long nationwide roadshow to showcase the recent trade agreement between New Zealand and Taiwan (ANZTEC).

Lead negotiator for the agreement, Charles Finny, told about 40 people it was one of the best economic co-operation agreements available to New Zealand, giving exporters a competitive advantage in the affluent Asian market that he compared to Australia in discretionary spending. Taiwan is about the same size as Canterbury.

Andrew Hiscock from ABB Napier gave insights from his experience of doing business in Taiwan.

The agreement gives New Zealand exporters duty free access for most goods including fresh foods and dairy, with the rest duty free within two years.

It was particularly beneficial to Hawke's Bay as most of the region's export produce were free of tariffs, or would soon be. He encouraged producers to embrace opportunities the sophisticated market offered, citing strong and growing demand for high quality and safe food.

The island nation is New Zealand's eleventh largest export market and fifteenth largest source of imports. New Zealand's exports include dairy products, beef, fruit, timber and electrical components.

Dean Prebble, originally from Taradale and now Trade Commissioner based in Taiwan, said the delegation was excited by the many opportunities for sourcing new products from the region.

ExportNZ's Hawke's Bay executive officer, Amanda Liddle, said businesses in the areas the Taiwanese expressed interest in were invited to the roadshow and later introduced, with the hope of doing some deals.

"There was some great business matching," she said.

The event was one of the first to be held at the Hawke's Bay Business Hub, a co-location of business support services in Ahuriri that will be officially opened next month.

Ms Liddle said the Ahuriri building was "extremely effective" as a networking and presentation venue.

The front desk captured the attention of the local and Taiwanese guests. It is an old ship's boiler reworked by Napier Engineering to serve as a station for the Business Hub concierge.