Award For Exports

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32073, 22 August 1969, Page 10

Award For Exports

Export awards were not lightly given, said the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Marshall) awarding one to P.D.L. Industries yesterday. Only 22 awards had been made in the last five years; and with many more manufacturers entering the export field and doing things today as a matter of routine that would have been outstanding a few years ago, the standard required to win this award was now much higher than it used to be.

P.D.L. had built up on overseas custom which was now, he believed, realising export orders almost every day, Mr Marshall said. Steady growth in established markets such as the Pacific Islands and Hong Kong, and spectacular advances In other markets such as Australia, had themselves been overshadowed by this year’s performances.

■ The company’s exports for the first six months had already overtaken last year’s figure, and the final figure for this year might be four times that of last year. New Zealand’s prosperity, said Mr Marshall, relied on the continual growth of our export trade, upon vital and vigorous companies like P.D.L., and upon men of vision like its managing director, Mr R. H. Stewart. As well as taking part in four trade missions—three of them as leader—Mr Stewart had personally appointed his overseas agents, personally undertaken market Investigations, and personally made frequent follow-up visits to his agents. This continuous contact with overseas markets had been backed with a reputation for quality and reliability of supply, said Mr Marshall. Replying to Mr Marshall i and to the Mayor (Mr A. R. i Guthrey)—who congratulated I the company on behalf of the ' citizens of Christchurch—Mr i Stewart said that export in- • centives and Government as- ' sistance in arranging bank finance had greatly helped the

development of the export side of his business. “1 must admit,” Mr Stewart said, “that my own staff could not always see the future in exporting when we could not fill the local demand, but we kept on. “Wei have just finished a tremendous amount of retooling for the Australian market,” he said. “We committed ourselves to spending $60,000 on it when we didn’t have an order in hand, and couldn’t get an order until we had samples. We’ve spent two years on it.

“Now,” said Mr Stewart, "I’ll be interested in what the Australians think when we pay the freight to Australia, pay Insurance, pay higher commissions than they do, and still undersell them—because that's what we’re going to do.” Mr Stewart said he hoped the Australian manufacturers would not get too upset about his plans. “We’re only after 20 per cent of their market for this line—but it’s worth $1 million to us.” Mr Manhall (right) is shown presenting the award to Mr Stewart.