Records & Archives Week 2010

Don't forget to think about your Archives this week - and do read my Post on TraLIS:

http://tralis.blogspot.com/

There is a copy of the stunning poster there too.

World Trade Month - Column - World Trade

World Trade Month

As you can see, in the US May is organised and celebrated as World Trade Month. Perhaps the international trade community in New Zealand: exporters, logistics specialists, export financiers, educators could highlight the importance of world trade in their own organisations.

If you organise something in your organisation how about letting the Exportersblog community know what you are planning or what you actually do. Post to this blog or make a comment on this post, or if you are too shy to post or comment then email me and I will post your plans: graeme@export.ac.nz

There are plenty of achievements to celebrate in New Zealand companies and New Zealand organisations who are actively promoting or 'doing' trade things. Let's hear about them for May 2010 World Trade Month.

FTA Exporter Survey Report - India and other countries

Photo: Delhi Conversation taken by Sushrutha Metikurke 2010.   Used with permission. http://sushrutha.blogspot.com/

India is one of the countries covered in this report from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.   15 countries are included and responses across a range of questions such as: Barriers in the market, Administrative procedures and red tape, institutional and domestic issues, are covered.   Exporters responses are of course very useful for other businesses considering these markets, but they also help to influence the negotiation process that New Zealand engages in during the FTA process.  Here is the link to the pdf document

http://www.mfat.govt.nz/downloads/trade/fta-exporter-survey-report-(public).pdf

This document is well worth looking at.

Calling all Wellington, New Zealand Exportersblog readers

Did you know that your library system (Wellington City Libraries)  has now got Marketline. You can read about it at: http://www.marketlineinfo.com/    At the moment it is only available for use in the Central Library at the Science and Humanities desk and on the free internet pcs.   If you are out taking a stroll in your lunchhour why not pop in and see Marilyn Domney (the Business Librarian)  and her team.
They also offer one hour's free non-urgent research to anyone with a Wellington City Libraries' card.

The Business Service of Wellington City Libraries has its own page on their website in case you have not found it:  http://www.wcl.govt.nz/business/index.html

Chocaholics

will have noticed that there is a war going on.  Over the weekend the chocolate manufacturer Whittakers from Porirua screened a long advertisement based on the theme of  "What's Fair" which included the fact that some of their range uses Fair Trade products.  Today Cadbury in New Zealand have countered with a newspaper campaign also saying that they are using Fair Trade products.   With Cadbury's recent disastrous introduction of palm oil into their recipe, one wonders if they can get back on top using the fair trade line...

Oh well we shall await the next shot!

Product Realisation & Medical Technology exports

Yesterday morning on Radio New Zealand's national Programme Finlay McDonald interviewed New Zealander of the Year - Ray Avery.   He has been involved in developing a number of medical technology products for the developing world e.g. an incubator which prevents the growth of bacteria and which can be used successfully in developing countries without the huge costs usually associated with this technology. 

One of the key concepts which he outlined was 'product realisation'  which he defined as 'the development of a product for which a need has been established or can be seen' (as opposed to developing a product which an innovative person thinks people are going to want).   This definition of product realisation is different from some of the definitions I have seen,

His business is selling many products from NZ to the Third world which have been developed in this way.   He also mentioned comments by the Government's Chief Science Advisor Peter Gluckman who said at a Medical Technology Conference in Auckland in February this year that:

'New Zealand's emerging medical technology sector, projected to become a billion industry within the next five years, was one of the most promising aspects of New Zealand's economy.'

Inthehouse.co.nz

Have you caught up with this resource: http://www.inthehouse.co.nz/?   It is essentially Parliament TV on demand delivered via YouTube.   There is a search facility so you can search on "exporting" or "free trade agreements", and results are delivered back with the names of Ministers and MPS underneath.   A search on "export" found this clip from November 2009 on the Government's export strategy:

http://www.inthehouse.co.nz/node/264

It might confirm for you how little is said in the House of Representatives about exporting!

A Nut Resource

Still don't know what export product this is?  I wouldn't have either!    It is a photo of a cashew apple and the cashew nut shown in an image from Cornell University.

Did you know that Vietnam has a 37% dominance of the world cashew market?  I didn't until I read this article by Leo Lewis which was reprinted in the Dominion Post on March 27, 2010 on p.C9: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/consumer_goods/article7071629.ece


The major producers of raw cashew nuts are: India, Brazil, Vietnam, West Africa and East Africa  and the
top 14 countries producing Cashew Nuts (in alphabetical order) are: Benin, Brazil, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan. Source: http://www.cashew.in/
 
Vietnam has just opened an electronic exchange floor for trading cashews.
 
If you are looking for information on other export products, check out the ELIS catalogue resources at:
http://ets.kohalibrary.com/cgi-bin/koha/opac-search.pl?q=export+products

"Clusters are the building blocks..."

Professor Michael Porter made this statement, which in full reads: 'Clusters are the building blocks of a productive, innovative economy'.   A cluster consists of a cluster core of highly specialised forms within the same industry.  Closely linked to this core are specialist supporting forms which supply services to it.   New Zealand has a number of clusters, some of which have focused on developing international markets for their cluster members.

I have compiled a Pathfinder entitled "Industry Clusters in New Zealand" so that you can look and see where these clusters are, which industries they cover and of the clusters listed which are currently engaged in international trade.  It is worth noting that Wellington has developed at least five clusters covering engineering, technology, manufacturing and the film industry.

The Pathfinder is available from the New Zealand School of Export FREE downloads page in pdf format:

http://www.export.ac.nz/freedownloads.html

Since it is possible that some of the information may be out of date, or incomplete, your comments and corrections would be appreciated.