Businesses going global

North America

Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor travelled to Detroit for the annual APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade meeting at the end of last month. During his visit, he also hosted a meeting of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Ministers, participated in an IPEF Ministerial Meeting and also met with a number of Ministerial counterparts, including Canada, Indonesia, Mexico, Japan, and the United States. A new regional supply chain agreement has been substantially concluded which will see 14 IPEF members undertake to monitor and address supply chain vulnerabilities; uphold labour rights in supply chains; and promote regulatory transparency.

In a watch out for Kiwi companies selling to federal government, or to industries where federal government is a funder, the US vote to suspend its debt ceiling has resulted in two years of spending caps and policy changes. Early this month the House passed a bill to suspend the debt ceiling, clearing a major legislative hurdle and heading off what would have been an economically devastating and historic default. The deal would suspend the $31.4 trillion borrowing limit until January 2025 and cut federal spending by $1.5 trillion over a decade.
Finally, New Zealand Ambassador Bede Corry and Australia Ambassador Dr. Kevin Rudd co-hosted a reception at the New Zealand Embassy in Washington, D. C. this month celebrating FIFA Womens World Cup 2023. The current Cup champion is the US, and Australia and New Zealand are joint hosts for this year’s matches, with the first match kicking off 20 July in Auckland. Several Kea community members joined VIPs including special guest Brandi Chastain, FIFA Women’s World Cup champion and Olympic gold medalist at the reception.

Gary Fortune, Kea North America Regional Director

UK and Europe

London Tech Week kicked off with a bang this month. In its 10th year, it’s Europe’s largest technology festival and attracts the world’s most inspirational founders, global leaders, policymakers, investors and rising stars. A delegation of more than a dozen New Zealand tech scaleups considering an expansion to the UK made the trip to London to explore market opportunities, expand their networks and identify potential partners. Kea partnered with the UK Department for Business and Trade, Oury Clark and NZTE to celebrate with the delegation and local tech sector Kiwi at a New Zealand drinks reception.

New Zealand businesses and researchers involved in low-carbon hydrogen production and adjacent sectors will soon see new opportunities in the UK. The UK government sees low-carbon hydrogen production as a driver of economic growth and a key component of its sustainable energy transition and its pathway to net zero. It is focused on positioning the UK as a global leader in the industry, with estimates its Hydrogen sector could be worth £900 million by 2030, increasing to as much as £13 billion by 2050. Kiwi businesses in this space should keep a watchful eye on the UK’s Net Zero Hydrogen Fund current and future funding rounds.

Finally Kea’s summer community meet-up and networking event was held at Ozone Coffee Roasters in Shoreditch this month. For those already in the UK or heading over for business, Kea’s seasonal community meetups are a great way to build your personal and professional networks and share stories of home or abroad with other exploring Kiwi. Watch this space for details of our autumn event planned for September.

Sara Fogarty, Kea UK/Europe Regional Director

China

This month, China receives PM Chris Hipkins’s trade focused state visit in Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai. In Shanghai, Kea attended the welcome reception hosted by MFAT and NZTE together with 500 exclusive guests across a wide range of industries. This is the first state visit since Covid pandemic. The PM expressed his appreciation of New Zealand companies’ accomplishments in the China market both before and after the pandemic and says he looks forward to further trade development between the two countries.

This month Kea attended the whakawātea / blessing and the opening ceremony at Museum of Art Pudong (MAP) for the grand opening of The Shape of Time: Art and Ancestors of Oceania from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The exhibition is led by Kea’s World Class New Zealander Dr. Maia Nuku, curator of Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC and features almost 130 artworks from across Oceania. These taonga (cultural treasures) have not left the Met for 40 years since the Rockefeller Wing opened in 1982. The exhibition is open to the public from 1 June 2023 to 20 August 2023. It is a lifetime opportunity for the people in China to learn more about Maori culture and for Kiwi to be reminded of a slice of home. 

On June 22nd China hosted the Dragon Boat Festival, a traditional Chinese holiday that occurs on the 5th day of the 5th month of the Chinese calendar and results in a three day holiday. The story best known in modern China, is that the festival commemorates the death of the poet and minister Qu Yuan. It is celebrated by holding dragon boat races and having sticky rice dumplings (Zongzi). 

Rebecca Bao, China Regional Director

New Zealand

The Southern Hemisphere’s largest agricultural event, Fieldays, was celebrated across four days at Mystery Creek, just outside Hamilton this month. The event is a launch platform for cutting-edge technology and innovation in agritech, food and fibre and related industries. During the event Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced that primary industry exports are expected to hit a record $56.2 billion by June 2023, 2.3 per cent higher than projected. 

This year also saw the launch of a Sustainability Hub at Fieldays, to explore sustainable farming research and science, urban and rural waste management, as well as water management and renewable energy. The Hub recognises that not only do sustainable initiatives protect our environment, but those who purchase New Zealand’s goods – from multinational companies to individual consumers – are increasingly demanding evidence that they’ve been sustainably produced. 

Earlier this month Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor represented New Zealand at the Commonwealth Trade Ministers’ Meeting in London, before travelling to Paris to vice-chair the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting. Since 2017, New Zealand has secured or upgraded seven FTAs and 73.5% of our export goods are now covered by an FTA. One in four jobs depend on trade and FTAs not only bring savings for Kiwi businesses but also help grow employment up to 12% faster when businesses start exporting. 

The entry into force of New Zealand’s most recent FTA, the UK FTA, was celebrated at Eden Park this month. Hundreds of exporters came together with trade agencies at the event to recognise the benefits to New Zealand, including $37 million in tariffs that were immediately eliminated and new duty-free quotas covering 99.5% of current exports. The deal will boost New Zealand’s GDP by up to $1 billion.

Saya Wahrlich, Global Director, Government & Industry

When the Sharesies platform first launched  in 2016, it gave everyday Kiwis the opportunity to start investing no matter what their budget was. Today, the Sharesies platform is valued at more than half a billion dollars and almost 10% of the New Zealand population has an account. Recently, Sharesies Australia came to Kea Connect for in-market advice and insights on growing in  Australia, where marketing manager Adrien Jarvis says the concept of low-cost investing has resonated.

“Sharesies was really born from the idea that investing should be far more accessible than it is.  The biggest barriers we hear people talking about is that the cost is too high, they don’t understand the jargon and acronyms, and they generally just feel excluded from the investment space. So what the Sharesies platform does really well is that it allows people to invest from as little as one cent and to buy shares and portions of shares. This allows people to invest easily in brands they love without needing a lot of cash upfront. With big companies like Amazon, a single share can cost several thousand dollars which can make it feel really inaccessible.” 

Adrien says these key points of difference which have resonated so well with the New Zealand market are also resonating with Australian consumers. 

“Australia’s such a big market with so many players, and our ability to let people invest from a small amount and buy into a portion of a share is a really key point of difference for Sharesies. It not only resonates with people starting out, but also with investors who are more seasoned because it gives you that full control to shape your portfolio and be less influenced by other factors like share prices or minimum investments that can affect decisions.”

However despite the similarities Adrien also says it’s been important for Sharesies to identify the ways in which their approach is tailored to the differences the  Australian market presents.

“New Zealand and Australia might be geographically close but of course they are two different cultures and that’s something we’ve talked about a lot internally. People often pigeonhole Australia and New Zealand into being the same, especially if they’re looking outside in, and we’re really not. We work differently, the landscape is different, the culture is different. Australia is one of the most expensive markets to advertise in the world, and it’s really competitive and there are certain channels and areas where we’re all competing for the same space and the same captive audience. That’s quite different to New Zealand where you often feel that everyone kind of knows everyone, and you can build connections and you can get things done quite cost effectively. There’s definitely been a lot of learning curves. I think it’s all been a healthy learning journey though because as Sharesies looks to go to other markets, these differences will only get greater and so this is a good first step.” 

Like almost every other brand launch or company growth plan in the world, offering access to the Sharesies platform to Australians was affected by Covid; however,  they are seeing some strong interest from Aussie investors. 

“When Covid hit and Australia got put into lockdown we made some decisions to pause and regroup a bit and shift some of our elements around. For example, we were looking at just launching our marketing campaign in Sydney and Melbourne to start because those are big markets here. But we ended up expanding our campaign up to Brisbane as well because they weren’t in lockdown like the other two, and that’s actually going really well for us. We’ve loved connecting with Brisbane and we’ve kept that as a big element of our latest marketing campaign. I think there’s always that need to be agile and ready to shift when it comes to Covid, and I think it’s just about being smart and learning from that and trying to think pragmatically about what you can do with what life’s thrown at us.”

Despite the success of Sharesies Australia, the Sharesies platform experience  retains its unique Kiwi flavour and authenticity, something Adrien (an American) says she has always admired about the brand. 

“What’s great about the platform  is that New Zealand loves it and is behind its success, and it’s such a great thing to be able to bring access to the Sharesies platforms for Australians . Sharesies is about something much bigger than just making money, and I’m really proud of that. We work to empower people to pull down barriers that may prevent them from financial success in the future. I think that’s something that the Sharesies platform’s Kiwi culture and mannerisms lean into so well. Kiwis are such approachable group; meeting one is like a warm hug, and that attitude comes through in the overall brand experience, and I think it really resonates with people, especially younger generations.”

While Australia’s geographical proximity and large Kiwi population has caused Australians to welcome access to the platform, Adrien says it won’t necessarily be the last market that will gain access to the Sharesies platform. But for now, they are just focusing on making the brand as much a household name in Australia as it has become in New Zealand. 

Kea Connect is a free service which puts you in touch with Kiwi in markets all around the world to offer in-market advice and insights to help your business grow. Get in touch with us today.

Maia was born and raised in London by a Kiwi mother and English father. Her mother and Aunty were the founding members of Ngāti Rānana, a London-based Māori culture club, so despite the distance Maia grew up immersed in her Kiwi roots. 

“My mother’s iwi is Ko Ngaitai te iwi, from the East Coast near Whakatane, she travelled to London by boat in 1958 and on the way she connected with other Kiwi on board and they would sing Māori songs. Once they landed they all kept in touch and they would meet at my Aunty’s flat and then the community grew bigger and they would gather at the London High Commission, so my siblings and I grew up very much part of that world.”

Maia’s mother worked closely with the New Zealand High Commission often hosting delegations of visiting Māori and Pacific people. As a child she would go home to New Zealand often to visit family, and her Nana would spend long stints in London helping raise her and her siblings. The distance made Maia’s mother determined to ensure her children knew their roots. 

“We’ve always had this kind of bridge to New Zealand. I think I’m, in a way, was more exposed to Māori culture in London than I might have been if I lived in New Zealand. We were kind of straddling both worlds all the time anyway. That’s why my work these days is a perfect fit, because I am used to living in both worlds.”

The work Maia is talking about is her role as the Curator, Oceania for The Metropolitan Museum of Art. She is responsible for around 2800 works of art spanning the entire Pacific. The Oceana display covers 230 cultures and 33 nations and Maia’s main focus is to help people connect and understand the pieces and in turn to understand what it means to be born in and of the Pacific. It’s a role that carries a huge responsibility.

“To be in charge of all these treasures, these taonga carries a huge weight. I really feel like I’m a kind of portal, a bridge to access. We have a duty of custodial care and obligation to the collections and that starts with communities whose Taonga we are safeguarding. Many of these pieces were designed to cement alliances and were exchanged as gifts as part of reciprocal relationships between Māori and Pacific peoples. So I very much view the collections as a kind of active agents and it’s my job to look after their physical care, but also think about their metaphysical care, and open up the space for those people to come and be with their ancestors in our galleries.”

“When this role became available I thought, oh gosh, that’s a big role to step into, but all these elders, these Māori and Pasifika people who I had met throughout my career really endorsed me and supported me. Some of them came through in the first few weeks that I was here and said it’s marvellous to have one of our own here. They felt comfortable to know they could work with me and I could work with them. It was then that I understood that it’s about access, you’re a broker just helping create these relationships between the institutions and the collection and the communities across the Pacific.”

Maia has always had an interest in museums and the histories of collections but it wasn’t until the 1990 anniversary of the commemoration of the Treaty of Waitangi that she realised how she could use her passion to contribute something back to New Zealand and its people. 

“The 1990 commemoration was the 150 year anniversary and it was a big year. Mum was involved with a committee and they wrote to all the museums in the UK and some in Europe to ask them about doing little displays that would commemorate the relationship between the Crown and Māori. I was finding myself at dawn ceremonies and openings. In a way I guess that helped me make sense of my own ancestry and heritage and work out how I could play a role in opening up collections and sharing that with others.”

Maia says many people think that indigenous representation in museums is a new thing, or something that has only taken place in recent decades but in fact it was a Maori exhibition led by Maori that first really pushed that agenda almost 40 years ago. 

“In 1984 the Met hosted Te Māori, Māori art collections from NZ and that was a landmark exhibition which was opened by a delegation of Māori who came over specially. It’s still cited as the first exhibition that had indigenous leaders. The exhibition broke all records. There were people queuing round the block to come in and see the show. They took it to San Francisco and then Chicago. For the first time Māori felt that Māori culture was finally on the world stage. When the exhibition went back to New Zealand, they curated another show called ‘Te hokinga mai’ or ‘The return home’ and a quarter of the population in New Zealand came out to see it, and it gave such a jolt to Māori self esteem.”

The Met is currently renovating the galleries that the Oceania collection is stored in and creating a new purpose built space which gives Maia the opportunity to really think about how best she can share the taonga in her care with the wider public. But change always comes with challenges and for Maia one of the biggest was how to bring people along on the journey.  

“When I started I was a bit worried, I knew I was going to have to push out the borders of the museum, to create change, and then I realised the institution wanted to change it just didn’t know how. So I thought, gentle steps, and we built trust with and consulted with the community. Now with this latest collection, we are going to deal with it quite differently, we’re going to host people and animate the collection with their voices and their perspectives and people are really on board with it. The new galleries will really bring to the centre and foreground indigenous perspectives and so I’m really looking to call out those things which are uniquely us so that we can create our own framework, rather than try and fit the Māori and Pacific collections into an institutional framework that doesn’t fit with us.”

Just like her mother in the 1960’s Maia has also become a firm point of connection for visiting Kiwi, Māori and Pacific artists and visitors travelling through New York. She often has people staying at her apartment and says the visitors help recharge her batteries and give her the energy to keep moving forward. 

“There have been times when I’ve had kind of institutional envy almost of my colleagues who work in New Zealand museums because I know that they’re all on board the same waka, and then there’s me in New York. But I know we need to do it like this, to bring people along with us in this new direction slowly. So I am very much nurtured and re-energised by visitors and artists staying with me, they are part of my own whanau I have created here in New York”

Despite living in New York since 2014 Maia views herself as mainly Kiwi and occasionally British. Keeping the connection to New Zealand is something she views as extremely important not just for her but also for her 14 year old son. It’s also a connection that she would like to pass on to thousands of others through her work. 

“You time travel when you are in a museum, you connect with history in a different way, I think it’s the tangibility of things. You can read about history or look at it on your phone, but when you’re actually standing in front of an object, when you can see where a stitch has been missed or the ink swells a bit where the writer paused on this manuscript, you know, you really connect across time and space, and I think that’s the power of it.”

“The more we move into digital realms, I think having a museum becomes a kind of counterpoint, becomes more important. To be able to physically go somewhere and stand in front of a real thing and then see what thoughts come up, that’s powerful. I think a museum is really, a very primal experience, you can really lose yourself in art and in today’s world, that is really important.”