MANY WORLD COUNTRIES WANT N.Z. PRODUCE

Wanganui Chronicle, 14 December 1949, Page 5

MANY WORLD COUNTRIES WANT N.Z. PRODUCE

Regular Enquiries, But The System Difficult

AUCKLAND, Last Night (PA).— Dozens of countries in Africa, the Orient, and the Western Hemisphere are anxious to buy New Zealand pro* duce. An average of about 20 inquiries a month nave been received since the close of the war by the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, but the Dominions’ export licensing system and bulk sale of butter and cheese to the United Kingdom have greatly limited opportunities for trade expansion.

Inquiries received by the chamber in November are typical of trading offers that have come regularly to Auckland over the past three years. Dairy produce was sought by importers in the Belgian Congo, British Guiana, British West Indies, Ceylon, Kenya, the Persian Gulf, Singapore and Syria. The little colony of Mauritius was interested in soap and tinned and dried milk. Greece sought casein and plastics, and Tanganyika was in the market for clothing goods. Syria was also seeking biscuits, meats and sugar, and several Pakistan firms wanted tinned foodstuffs, machinery, ammunition, electrical goods, hardware, paints, varnishes, scientific instruments and plastics. Sweden’s interest was animal hair. There were two American offers for general produce, toheroas and whitebait, and a Canadian correspondent asked about the prospects of purchasing New Zealand birds for aviary collections. Japan’s particular needs from New Zealand last montn were coal, salt,' gypsum, casein, oils and lumber. In return at least five of her merchants were selling machinery, plywoods, hardware, glassware, musical instruments, fishing nets, tyres and tubes, rubber footwear, oak, textiles, metals, toys, clocks and watches and tablewear. . _ The secretary of the chamber, Dr. E. P. Neale, said today that inquiries now regularly received greatly exceeded pre-war numbers In some cases New Zealand exporters had been able to supply needs, but many of the inquiries, which particularly concerndairy produce, could not be met under the present circumstances.