TRADE RELATIONS

Southland Times, Issue 19821, 18 March 1926, Page 5

TRADE RELATIONS

NEW ZEALAND AND JAPAN. VALUE OF CO-OPERATION STRESSED. In the course of an interview with a Dunedin Star representative after his visit to the Exhibition, Mr lyemasa Tokugawa (Consul-General for Japan in Australia and New Zealand and the South Pacific generally) stressed the great possibilities of increased trade between New Zealand and Japan, and the great value of co-operation between the two countries as a means of promoting the economic development and the general well-being of both. “Japan is not such a distant country as it might often be imagined to be,” he said. “We are bordering on the Pacific, and now that the Pacific is becoming, if it has not already become, one of the centres of world progress, I firmly believe that all the nations bordering on that ocean should co-operate at all costs in the direction of promoting and maintaining peace in that area and even beyond it. The economic conditions in. the two countries are to a large extent complementary, although time has not allowed us to develop our trade as much as it might be developed. I believe we can look forward to the time when there will be a greater interchange of commerce between Japan and New Zealand. DIRECT SHIPPING SERVICE. “One thing that will be necessary to secure this will undoubtedly be a direct shipping service between the two countries, but this, of course, will depend on the growth of trade, as shipping and trade are interdependent. When I stated that the economic conditions of both countries were complementary I meant that you had enormous raw material, which we can utilise to advantage in our industries. Our natural resources are limited, but out industries are expanding at a very satisfactory rate. With co-operation I think a good deal might be done to develop the trade of the two countries. The basis of cooperation is friendship, and the basis of friendship is mutual understanding, which can only be attained by a good knowledge of each other. In order to get that knowledge frequent contact is necessary, and, therefore, I am a strong believer in an interchange of visits between New Zealanders and Japanese, either in the shape of commercial missions or parliamentary delegations, on the same lines as interchanges have taken place between Japan and European countries or America in the past. In this way men in responsible positions would have conferences, which would do a lot of good in bringing the ideals of each nation before the other, and eventually result in that co-operation which would advance the interests of both. It is my earnest hope to come back again to New Zealand in the near future and see more of the country.”