In 1642 on 13 December in the ship Heemskerck Tasman sighted the north of the South Island of New Zealand beginning this country's long and very fruitful association with the Netherlands.
This year is the 370th anniversary of Tasman's exploration of New Zealand waters and the first recorded meeting with Maori. You can check out the website at: www.abeltasman370.com
In the year ended June 2011 our trade with the Netherlands ranked 21st after other European countries such as Germany (7th), Italy (13th), and France (18th). In the same statistical year New Zealand exported sheep meat products valued at 137,221 million NZ dollars to Holland. This was an amazing increase of 59.2% over the previous year. The next five top products after sheepmeat were: Aluminium, apples, pears and quinces, seeds, wine and onions!
On the other side of the ledger we imported food preparations, trucks and vans, retail medicines and pet food. In fact in the year ended June 2011 there was an enormous leap in the value of pet food imports from NZD$3 million to NZD$12 million!
For any exporters who are interested in trading with the Netherlands there is the Netherlands New Zealand Business Association NLNZBA see http://www.nlnzba.com/ . The connection started by Tasman in 1642 is obviously alive and well. You can also be a part of the celebrations by getting in contact with Penny Griffith the Coordinator of the 370th Commemoration at: abel.tasman.370@gmail.com
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