Trade barters necessary—Mr Beetham

Press, 9 May 1984, Page 8

Trade barters necessary— Mr Beetham

Ndw Zealand would be locked out of international trading markets if the Government did not face up to the need to accept barter deals, said Social Credit’s leader Mr Beetham, in Christchurch yesterday. About a quarter of the total trade in the Western world last year was conducted by counter-trading deals, he said. That trade, where countries exchanged goods or credits rather than using hard foreign currency, was worth about $7OO billion. Many Third World nations bartered because they lacked foreign exchange, Mr Beetham said. Other Western nations, such as the United States and West Germany, were willing to trade on that basis. But the New Zealand Government had adopted a “head in the sand” attitude and ignored many marketing opportunities for new products and for primary produce, said Mr Beetham. Counter-trading was to New Zealand’s advantage because it would save costly overseas exchange and prevent the need for overseas borrowing. “The Government is sticking slavishly to a system

that disadvantages it,” he said. Mr Beetham’s comments were sparked by a report at the week-end that the Meat Board had made a barter trade deal with Poland, involving the exchange of New Zealand lamb for Polish heavy engineemg equipment. The Meat Board has not released any details about the deal yet. However, Mr Beetham said the board should be congratulated for its initiative. “It is clear that as New Zealand becomes increasingly locked out of the European Community and faces a series of protectionist measures in the North American market, more and more of our trade will be conducted with the Third World,” he said. New Zealand had to accept counter-trade deals if it wanted to gain access to those markets. Countertrading was part of the changing pattern of international trade. Mr Beetham was in Christchurch to speak at a Eublic meeting in the Sydenam electorate. He will speak in Timaru today, before travelling to Dunedin for Social Credit’s Otago divisional conference at the week-end.