NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade's David Walker ... global influence is shifting to Asia. Photo: Chen Bei / PMC

The world economy is shifting its focus to New Zealand’s Asian neighbourhood. But policymakers and academic researchers think Kiwi businesses could be doing better with the help of Asia-savvy talents.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Chen Bei

Do you want to make your first pot of gold in Asia?

Imagine you’re living in a high population city – with a smaller apartment and breathing polluted air, and you probably have to work like a dog late into the night.

Asia has many such cities. But an investment adviser to the New Zealand Asia Institute, Charles Chow, suggests Kiwi business graduates – many of them with an Asian face – go to Asia to earn their first pot of gold.

Why do they head for the hustle and bustle of life in a place which some of the graduates’ parents or grandparents chose to leave?

“Asia is rapidly rising while Western economies are relatively declining,” says Chow at the Asia-savvy conference held in the University of Auckland.

“You work there for two or three years, and the odds are you’ll earn more money than your peers in New Zealand,” says Chow.

“If you want to come back at that time with an Asia-working background, it is easier for you to find a good job with a higher salary.”

Chow’s words seem tempting to some Kiwis keen to experience the legendary “Eastern gold rush”. Is it a visionary bubble for “gold-seekers”?

Shift focus
Actually Chow is not alone in proposing a shift of attention to Asia.

Speakers at the 2-day Asian-savvy forum all encouraged Kiwis – both stakeholders and university talents – to focus more on Asia and to share ideas on how to better engage in the mutually beneficial business relationship between Asia and New Zealand.

“At a time when the world economy is shifting its focus to Asia, we should learn about the potential that Asia holds for New Zealand,” says Professor Hugh Whittaker of the University of Auckland Business School.

Catalysing Asia-savvy acumen concerns not only one’s individual career future but also New Zealand’s future, according to Whittaker.

Terms like the Asian Century and the New Asian Hemisphere are not dragged out of thin air. Asia has led the world in economic growth for two decades.

Three of the word’s top 10 economies – China (2nd), Japan (3rd) and India (9th) – are now in Asia. The continent accounts for approximately 32 percent of global trade.

Other Asian countries – notably the “Tiger Cub” economies of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam – are also booming with a faster than average growth rate.

Half world’s population
Another fact is that the region contains half the world’s population, including its three most populous countries – China (1st), India (2nd) and Indonesia (4th).

“According to the World Bank, in 2009 28 percent of the world’s middle class populations were in Asia. By 2020, the figure is projected to more than double,” says David Walker, deputy secretary of NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in his keynote address at the conference.

The shift of global influence towards Asia, New Zealand’s neighborhood, is a good thing for New Zealand, according to Walker.

“New Zealand is a trading nation. As a market of only 4 million people, we need to sell our goods and services so other countries to prosper and grow. In all of these areas – import and export, investment, knowledge and skills – Asia is crucial,” he says.

Asia-savvy in demand
New Zealand has already enjoyed stronger ties with the Asian market. Eleven of the country’s top 20 export markets are in Asia, and China has become the second largest trading partner for both exports and imports. Exports to China have tripled over the last five years.

Policymakers and academic researchers, however, think Kiwi businesses could be doing better and could be participating more fully in the growth of Asia’s economies.

“A 2007 survey of Asian businesses reported that New Zealand business people were well regarded and seen as trustworthy by Asian counterparts, but their Asia-related skills in language and culture were perceived to be low, ” says Walker.

Language is regarded one of the reasons that prevent Kiwi businesses from fully engaging in the Asian market. “In some sectors we can still see a preference for doing business with English-speaking countries, such as Australia, the US and UK, if all possible, ” says Whittaker.

A partial understanding of Asian culture and social relationships also hinders Kiwi businesses entering or expanding into Asian market.

A New Zealander would be totally confused about the body languages of humility and respect in Japan, according to Melissa Lee MP, one of the speakers at the conference.

“It is very difficult to tell the meaning of a bow or a repertoire of smiley nods and polite ‘Hai’ “. To Japanese, the “head nod” or “Hai” is to encourage the speaker to keep on talking. But this is often misinterpreted by a New Zealander as an agreement.

‘Guanxi’ business
Many New Zealanders also failed to understand the Asian concept of doing business through “guanxi”, or relationship.

“Establishing relationships can be the factor that makes or breaks business deals in a market like China, but New Zealand businesses view the Asian way of doing business with suspicion,” Henry Shi, a PhD student and member of the organising committee for the conference tells media.

“We need more New Zealanders who are confident in their dealings with Asia and Asian societies, and that will only come through greater familiarity and knowledge of the region and its peoples,” says Walker.

Asia-savvy in this context means those who know the culture of New Zealand as well as Asia, and who can bridge the gap between New Zealanders and Asian people.

“Asia-savvy graduates will be in demand, if not in New Zealand, then most definitely in Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and Seoul, where many global multinational corporations are based,” says Chow.

Chen Bei is a deputy editor for China Daily.com’s mobile newsroom. She is in Auckland on a postgraduate studies exchange with AUT’s School of Communication Studies and Pacific Media Centre.

David Walker’s speech can be downloaded here.