Reciprocal Trade With Japan Urged

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31763, 21 August 1968, Page 1

Reciprocal Trade With Japan Urged

Every endeavour should be made to give Japanese products improved access to New Zealand—so that New Zealand, in turn, could establish a substantial.growth of business with Japan.

This view was expressed by Mr P. Blomfield, technical director of Potash (N.Z.), Ltd. in a paper on agricultural export marketing read at the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural Science’s conference at Lincoln College yesterday. Japan, Australia, and South-East Asia were markets of particular significance to New Zealand, said Mr Blomfield. Market research and trade promotion, he said, must be vigorously developed, and aggressive selling methods used. “To get into markets we must be hard, tough, and aggressive—qualities which some of us may not like but which are possessed by many Australians.” Mr Blomfield said. “In fact, it might not be a bad thing if we joined with Australia in a commonmarketing approach." In any event, said Mr Blomfield, there should be established in Japan a large marketing unit, well staffed by agricultural economists, with assistance from Government, producer boards, and commercial organisations. “We will also have to look at bilateral trade deals at Government level—which will assist us to sell goods to a market which otherwise would not be available to us,” Mr Blomfield said. Recently, New Zealand had had an offer from Poland to take wool, hides, and possibly meat while New Zealand, in return, took fishing trawlers. It had been pointed out that Poland used to buy wool from New Zealand but her purchases had declined because she had tended to buy from Argentina, where she had a reciprocal trade agreement, Mr Blomfield said.

Other trade proposals had been made by Jugoslavia and India.

“There may be difficulties in these transactions—but are we sure that we have satisfactorily explored all the possibilities in this field?” Mr Blomfield said. “The difficulties under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade are appreciated, but we must in future look closely at, and follow up, bilateral trade deals which could be of benefit to New Zealand.”