New Zealand primary exporters urged to stay nimble
Be ready to be nimble. That's the message to New Zealand primary exporters from international trade expert, company director and farmer Mike Petersen.
Jacinda Ardern should consider basing one of her senior cabinet ministers in Europe by early next year, says trade commentator Mike Petersen.
He says this will strengthen New Zealand’s efforts to negotiate FTAs with both the EU and the UK.
Petersen says, because of Covid, the ability of NZ politicians, farming and industry leaders to personally get alongside their overseas counterparts has virtually stopped. Trade Minister Damien O’Connor acknowledged this in a separate interview with Rural News and noted that he would be spending hours on Zoom trying to do what he’d normally do in person.
Petersen believes the going is tough for NZ in its negotiations with the UK and EU, both with Covid and the political upheaval in the United States. He says there isn’t an ability to engage personally with people and this is made harder because there are now new faces on the political scene in the EU.
Petersen says the biggest problem NZ has is the inability to travel.
“This is very frustrating for us and I am seeing our counterpart organisations off-shore loving the fact that we can’t go up there and tout our credentials and counter some of the myths that are being spread when it comes to NZ,” he told Rural News.
“That is sadly lacking at the moment. Yes, we have got our embassy people who are being put on to do that work on our behalf. I am not saying I don’t trust them. But nothing beats us having politicians, farmers, our special ag trade envoy Mel Poulton, or the companies going into the market and doing the work themselves,” he adds.
Petersen says the longer the lack of engagement goes on, the more difficult it becomes for NZ. He says it makes sense for a nation that exports 95% of its produce offshore to have a senior minister based in Europe to put the NZ case at a political level.
There is a precedent for the proposal. In 1942, the then Prime Minister Peter Fraser appointed his Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Walter Nash as the ambassador to the USA. This move was designed to ensure NZ’s position on the war was communicated first-hand to the US President Franklin D Roosevelt.
Fraser’s view was that NZ’s relationship with the US was so important that it needed a permanent presence of a very senior minister in Washington. Nash served in the role until early 1944.
The Fieldays Innovation Awards competition has attracted a diverse and impressive array of innovations from across the primary industries, highlighting the growing importance of technology shaping the future of farming.
Coming to the fore following the carnage of Cyclone Gabrielle, Starlink became well known for providing internet access even in NZ's most inaccessible places.
From this winter farmers will have a greater choice of feed types and blend options than ever before, thanks to Farmlands' purchase of animal nutrition company SealesWinslow.
Newly appointed National Fieldays chief executive Richard Lindroos says his team is ready, excited and looking forward to delivering the four-day event next month.
OPINION: Farmers are rightly urging the Government to relax the rules around KiwiSaver and allow young farmers to use their savings towards purchasing either a house, cows or a farm.
Winning the 2025 New Zealand Share Farmers of the Year still hasn't sunk in for Thomas and Fiona Langford.
OPINION: Imagine if the Hound had called the Minister of Finance the 'c-word' and accused her of "girl math".
OPINION: It's good news that Finance Minister Nicola Willis has slashed $1.1 billion from new spending, citing "a seismic global…