No Trade Man In South America

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31921, 24 February 1969, Page 1

No Trade Man In South America

The very active promotion by Australia of its manufactured goods in South America and the strenuous efforts of the Australian Government to assist its exporters to that continent were two of the main impressions gained by Mr H. D. Matson, of the National Mortgage and Agency Company of New Zealand, Ltd, who made a two - month visit to seven countries in South America. Mr Matson, who was until recently stationed in Christchurch, is now assistant manager for the firm at Hamilton. “Unless trends alter drasti-

cally, the population of the South American continent ; could reach about 470 million ' by the turn of the century,” ■ Mr Matson said. “This is now | only 31 years away but the i Government has not yet seen ; fit to send even one trade i commissioner to this vast con- ' tinent” < ' It was practically irnpos- i sible to generalise about i South America, he said, as each country was so different, ' both in its strengths and its i problems. 1 Brazil was a tremendous country with a huge potential i both industrially and agri- ] culturally, but there were signs of some lack of forward ! planning. For instance, he had seen about 34 overseas i vessels waiting off Santos for berths. The development of Sao Paulo, an industrial giant, had well outstripped its port facilities.

Uruguay was suffering from an overdose of the welfare state, which had been carried to an excess in good times. This was now well beyond its present financial capacity. The results, Mr Matson said, should act as a deterrent and example to those in New Zealand who continually advocated increased benefits without the corresponding increase in production. Argentina was progressing well under a firm government and generally conditions there were improving. Chile had a great area of extremely fertile country but production was hampered by the shadow of agrarian reform, insufficient tax incentives for farmers and many controlled prices. Peru was acutely short of beef and had been importing annually about 100,000 cattle for slaughter to supplement the local supply.

Ecuador Was embarking on an ambitious programme to increase beef production to compensate for the fall in sales of bananas, on which she largely relied and which were now in worjd oversupply. ! In Colombia there was a very progressive textile industry but this country was short of local wool production and recent imports of sheep from New Zealand and Australia reflected Colombian efforts to correct this shortcoming. Mr Matson said that shipping services from New Zealand to South America were such that in most circumstances New Zealand exporters could only, offer transhipments or other services which involved very slow deliveries that were unattractive to exporters faced with extremely high interest rates. Shipping

companies said, fairly, “get the cargoes and we will put on the ships,” while exporters said, “put on the ships and we will get the cargoes.” It was the old story of which came first, the chicken or the egg, said Mr Matson. “Somehow these problems must be solved if New Zealand, like Australia, is to share in this expanding market. New Zealand would derive many long-term benefits if a regular, direct shipping service was established to South America’s east coast, even if this had to be subsidised in the initial stages,” he said. Mr Matson said that many New Zealanders were making a worth-while contribution to South American agriculture. Mr A. H. Flay in Uruguay, Mr J. Stewart in Argentina and Mr R. Dreaver in Colombia were among these.