Trade Commissioners - Trademakers

Recently a history of the New Zealand Trade Commissioner Service was published entitled: Agents Abroad. Exporters frantically involved in getting their products to market will probably say ‘I haven’t got time for history!


It does however highlight the role that the New Zealand Trade Commissioners play in developing or ‘making’ our international trade happen. You can find out whether your export destination has a trade commissioner you can contact by using the MFAT site:

http://www.mfat.govt.nz/Embassies/1-NZ-representatives-overseas/index.php

Ever wondered what a Trade Commissioner actually does? Read our interview with Anne Chappaz, former New Zealand Trade Commissioner in Vancouver on the New Zealand School of Export website: http://www.export.ac.nz/freedownloads.html

By the way the book is fascinating – did you know that in 1901 Graham Gow was appointed as a New Zealand trade representative and he went around the world for the next 12 years searching for new markets for New Zealand products? It is available through the ELIS catalogue.