FAR EAST TRADE

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 118, 15 November 1945, Page 6

FAR EAST TRADE

NEED FOR EXPANSION

POSITION BEING WATCHED^ "Tlie Government is aware that trad* representation must be expanded art the East, and now that the war .is oyer] no time is being lost in restoring tbej basis of New Zealand trade res* es.e™'\ ation abroad," said! the Prime Minister; (Mr. Fraser) in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon, lne question was not one which affectea, the eastern countries alone, but was, related to representation in the Unitea States and other countries, said Mr. Fraser. The Minister of Industries and Commerce was actively concerned with the matter and the Government would take the necessary steps to, secure adequate representation msnen countries as offered reasonable trade prospects.

Mr. J. T. Watts (National, Riccar-i ton) had asked the Prime Minister J whether he could consider the advis-J ability of appointing Trade Commis-| sioners for New Zealand in China, the* Netherlands East Indies, and Singa-i pore in order to foster New Zealand| trade with the Far East. Mr. Fraserf said there were possibilities for trade i with. Far Eastern countries and New,^ Zealand had a supply liaison officer in.'j India who was very active in keeping"; tlie Dominion abreast of trade possi-'^! bilities, not only in India, but also in; the East Indies, Malaya, etc. Mr.^ Watts would agree that the present ) did not appear to be the most pro-} pitious moment to establish trade re- ; presentation in the East Indies. j Mr. E. B. Corbett (National, Eg-,, mont) said that trade between the Far^ East and New Zealand was a very;! vital question. Before the war New j Zealand had established in the locality,*; of Singapore a quite extensive trade j in dried milk and there was also an 3 opening in the same area for others commodities processed from milk. The'! market in processed cheese, for ex-f ample, was one that could be sub-'j stantially extended. From that area| the Dominion had been receiving large \ quantities of tinned fruits, various condiments, and cereals. . , New Zealand had representation in ; Russia and many other countries, butp he felt th%t there was greater scope, for trade in the East than in any other j country, with the exception of Great t Britain and America. The markets| were close and many commodities£; wanted by the Dominion were peculiar to those localities. ' : Mr. Watts said he understood there.< was now a big market in the Far EastV for tinned foods, particularly vege-| tables and meats. The Australianj| Government and manufacturers wereg busy exploring the, markets and weref; ready with all kinds of manufactured^ goods. New Zealand had done very,; little, and he thought it more im-js portant to have a trade representatives) in the Far East than to have a Mm- j ister in Moscow. The officer in India.! was too far away.

REPORTS CONSIDERED.

The Minister of Industries and Com- - merce (Mr. Sullivan) said his Depart-^ ment was considering reports on trade^ representation in the East which had** been received from its representative^ in India, who was now at Bombay.jj However, in order to get the best pic-S ture of the situation it might be neces-^.; sary to send a special competent re-^ presentative from New Zealand to the; countries in which the Dominion might* be interested, to make a personal ex-J amination and give a personal appre-| ciation of the possibilities of theses markets. That could be done before! making any actual appointments. If^ there were a market, it was to some^ extent conditional on the contracts] entered into with the.lmperial Gov-| ernment for the supply of goods for al period of years. ' Mr. W. J. Poison (National, Strat-4 ford): We could send wool to North| China, and take soya beans, but there; is nobody there to deal with. ] Mr. T. H. McCombs (Government,] Lyttelton): We send wool to RussiaJ and members on the other side criti-j cisc our sending a representative] there.