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Global Kiwi

Why is New Zealand negotiating a free trade agreement with the UK?

The UK is one of New Zealand’s closest and most important bilateral partners. We already have strong economic and people-to-people connections. We sell each other some $6 billion in goods and services each year and are substantial investment and innovation partners. But there is scope for us to do more through a free trade agreement (FTA) that removes tariffs, addresses non-tariff barriers, and provides improved access for New Zealand services exporters and investors and companies wanting to bid for UK government contracts.

Early conclusion of a high quality, comprehensive and inclusive FTA will:

  • be an important next step in growing New Zealand’s future relationship with the UK;
  • create new opportunities for New Zealanders to grow their business in the UK;
  • promote our sustainable development and inclusive trade objectives to ensure the benefits of trade reach all communities in New Zealand; and
  • contribute to New Zealand’s COVID-19 trade recovery strategy.

How will a free trade agreement improve our trade relationship with the UK?

The UK, a G7 economy with a GDP of $2.7 trillion, is already a close economic partner for New Zealand. Two-way trade with the UK was worth nearly NZ$6 billion in 2019, making the UK New Zealand’s sixth largest trading partner. It is our closest investment partner in Europe, with New Zealand investment in the UK topping NZ$15 billion last year.
An FTA will bring New Zealand and UK businesses, workers and consumers even closer together by providing a platform to grow trade, investment, and greater UK-New Zealand cooperation on sustainable development and inclusive trade issues. We will seek to do this by:

  • improving access for goods and services, cutting the cost of trade, and thereby offering consumers and businesses wanting New Zealand and UK products better choice at more affordable prices;
  • providing more certainty of access for investors and services exporters;
  • agreeing modern rules that facilitate and streamline trade, including for the digital sector; and
  • establishing new commitments, dialogue and forums for cooperation on sustainable and inclusive trade issues.

What are the economic benefits of a free trade agreement with the UK?

The free trade benefits we will be seeking through negotiations with the UK include:

  • reducing the costs for existing trade and creating new opportunities to grow our goods and services trade to the UK;
  • making it easier for companies of all sizes to do business in the UK, including through digital means;
  • establishing a ‘level playing field’ for New Zealand businesses trading, operating and investing in the UK market; and
  • strengthening collaboration with the UK across a range of trade and economic areas.

According to modelling undertaken by the UK government, an FTA is estimated to increase:

  • New Zealand’s GDP by up to £500 million; and
  • New Zealand exports to the UK by up to 40.3%.

UK exports to New Zealand are expected to increase by up to 7.3%. These estimates reflect potential gains in year 15 following the FTA entering into force, and examine the benefits of removing all tariffs and addressing some non-tariff barriers (other possible benefits such as the investment effects and dynamic efficiency gains of an FTA were not considered). Further details on this analysis, its assumptions and limitations can be found here.

What are New Zealand’s key exports to the UK?

Our trade is highly complementary and we benefit from strengths in different sectors. The UK is a leading supplier of vehicles, turbines and engines, and pharmaceutical products to New Zealand. The UK is one of the biggest global importers of food products and benefits from New Zealand’s counter-seasonal production of fresh produce and protein.

  • New Zealand’s main goods exports to the UK include meat, wine, fruit, some machinery, eggs, honey and wool and were worth NZ$1.4 billion in 2019.
  • The main goods imports from the UK include vehicles and parts, machinery, equipment, and pharmaceuticals and totalled NZ$1.7 billion in 2019.
  • There is also substantial services trade, worth NZ$2.7 billion in 2019. New Zealand services exports to the UK are dominated by travel, transport and business services.

What are New Zealand’s objectives in a free trade agreement with the UK?

Since launching the campaign at the start of the month, we have already got international jobs starting to come down the pipeline to NZ and we’d love to help more of these international screen production and creative technology projects get back up-and-running. And how fantastic if that global demand means we get more of NZ CreaTech businesses’ phones and emails ringing and pinging. Long term we want to build on our first-mover advantage by ensuring NZ can accelerate a strong robust CreaTech Sector that generates export earnings of $5billion+. This is achievable if we combine the screen sector, interactive media and games industries together and we don’t let this incredible talent and investment fall off a cliff.

How will a free trade agreement with the UK deliver on New Zealand’s Trade for All objectives?

We expect the UK will be a close partner on many of New Zealand’s Trade for All objectives and will be seeking to reflect these in our negotiations. The UK has indicated a shared interest in promoting sustainable development outcomes through the FTA, including with respect to environment, climate change and labour. It has also been clear that it wants to work with us to develop a trade agreement that will benefit our economies and communities more widely, including for small and medium enterprises.

For New Zealand’s part, we will also be looking to incorporate provisions to advance the economic and trade interests of Māori, women and to explore with the UK opportunities to work together to promote more open and inclusive trade as an enabler of development more broadly.

How can New Zealanders have their say as part of these negotiations?

In keeping with New Zealand’s Trade for All agenda, we will conduct this process in as open and transparent a way as possible. Our objective will be to draw on the expertise and views of New Zealanders to help shape the agreement’s outcomes. Alongside the launch of negotiations, MFAT are publishing an independent assessment of the views New Zealanders have already expressed in initial consultations on a UK- New Zealand FTA.

Moving forward, negotiators will undertake regular consultation and engagement with Māori leaders, business and sector groups involved in trade with the UK, civil society stakeholders, and interested members of the public. This will include regular updates on the FTA process, individual and group meetings on key issues in the negotiation, opportunities for engagement in the context of negotiating rounds, and an open-door policy for any New Zealander wishing to provide feedback and views throughout the course of the negotiations. Further details on the Ministry’s consultation and engagement plan for the initial stage of negotiations will be published before the first round.

A dedicated MFAT email address has been established for public enquiries and feedback at any stage during the negotiations. All feedback received will be shared with relevant negotiators and agencies involved in the negotiation, and will be used to help shape New Zealand’s approach and priorities in a UK FTA.

What does COVID-19 mean for the negotiation?

New Zealand’s efforts to secure a high quality, comprehensive and inclusive FTA with the UK have an important role to play as part of our wider COVID-19 trade and economic recovery plan. An FTA with the UK will provide a strong foundation to boost our trade and economic relationship with our sixth largest trade partner and will contribute to diversifying our international trade frameworks, at a time when the UK is doing the same post-Brexit. It will also send a strong signal about the importance both the UK and New Zealand attach to support for more open, rules-based trade, in promoting global economic recovery.

What happens next in the New Zealand-UK FTA process?

The first round of negotiations will be held virtually and will begin on 13 July. New Zealand is aiming to put in place an FTA with the UK as quickly as possible and we think rapid progress will be possible in many areas. Our priority though is a high quality and comprehensive agreement that addresses New Zealand’s key interests, rather than the speed of the negotiating process. 

Residing in Europe you have an external view of New Zealand and how we have been responding to Covid-19. What does New Zealand look like from the outside in?

To outsiders (non-New Zealanders), New Zealand as a somewhat distant and isolated island nation has been able to manage its response to the coronavirus pandemic well, in part due to those attributes. Conversely, I have a great fear that the extensive national and possible over-self-isolation is not going to play out well as we advance into 2021 and up until 2024. New Zealand’s standard of living is overwhelmingly dependent on being an integral part of the world economy. A far greater emphasis must be placed on trade which will require some increased risk-taking. But are we ready for that?

As a leader with a global perspective, what advice do you have for New Zealanders engaging in the changed global market?

The global market is going to become more competitive. In many sectors and especially manufacturing, there will be a re-deployment of the production means of critical supplies back to home markets. Pharmaceuticals and specialised equipment are likely to be the first examples. In my view, the conclusions New Zealand must draw from this are looking forward to focusing on improved productivity (more and better quality from the same input) added value and the supply of premium and distinctive products. The tourism and logging industries could do with attention in this regard.

What are the primary opportunities and challenges you see specifically in relation to the New Zealand agriculture sector arising from this situation?

Agriculture’s importance to New Zealand is a major source of foreign exchange earnings. As an industry, agriculture (which also includes forestry, hunting and fishing) employs some 6% of the total working population. The outlook for agricultural exports is probably relatively good and thus for employment would appear to be somewhat stable. After all, food is an essential and everyone needs to eat.

One possible adverse sign is that there is an excess of food appearing in many global markets. Reasons are various including the global shutting down of restaurants and food outlets, less throwing away of food (some one third of all food produced is estimated to be thrown away), lower available discretionary spending and disruption to logistics of supply chains due to employee lock-downs. New Zealand mostly exports premium agriculture products often in competition with domestic suppliers. A possible saving grace is that New Zealand is a counter-season producer in many of its markets.

What thoughts do you have on the way in which domestic leaders in New Zealand are approaching New Zealand’s recovery from the pandemic?

Managing the initial stages of immediately reacting to the pandemic while not easy, were accomplished well in New Zealand. The Government took some radical decisions all the while backed up by a team of scientific, health and other experts who provided the ‘cover’ for such a radical and rather risky approach of basically shutting down the country.

It is now clear from elsewhere in the world that exiting the shut-down, and at the same time managing the economic consequences, will prove far more difficult. My thoughts are that organising the exit will consist of two basic parts: public health and the economy. In terms of public health, the main focus during the exit should be on managing the inevitable resurgences of the disease. In terms of the economy, the Government is going to need huge amounts of help, including from the public, in achieving an exit with the minimum possible damage.

How might the recovery process best be managed, and what kind of timeframes would you envisage for this process?

My experience suggests that because of the complexity of this issue, this is going to take a group of people with a wide range of expertise. I believe it will be essential when attempting to get the country on board in a non-partisan way to create a National Regeneration Initiative with the recognition that things may not go back to the way they were.

A huge amount of planning, brainstorming and blood sweat and probably tears, will be required to get this underway. As to the time which will be required, the Christchurch earthquake rebuild although on a much smaller scale than the current crisis, gives some idea of the timeframe one is faced with. It is all doable and there are plenty of models from the past and around the world and the key is organisation and planning.

Volcano Coffee Works

Kiwi founded, UK operated Volcano Coffee Works is among the many great coffee roasteries in the UK which has helped forge the coffee revolution here, for which many expat Kiwis are incredibly grateful. Trading through and beyond the economic impact of Covid-19 has many business owners and leaders working to navigate the myriad of information being shared by the government and professional service providers. Volcano Coffee Works Head of Finance, Stewart Morrin has had the unenviable task of deciphering the middle ground between government support, business conditions and financial stability.

Here they share with fellow food and beverage providers the options and considerations available to them during this time of economic disruption.

Cardrona Distillery

Cardrona Distillery made the news for their recent pivot to producing top quality hand sanitiser for their local community, following their having to stop commercial production of its whisky because of the Covid-19 outbreak. Deciding to give away the pure spirit from its gin and vodka stills for use as hand sanitiser. Founder Desiree Whitaker said “We are only a small distillery, it is not something we are set up to do [commercially], but we wanted to be able to do our bit for the community,”.

As another fantastic New Zealand business taking its products to the world, Cardrona encourage people to send a Kiwi made gift to a loved one or if you’d like to learn to upskill by learning the art of cocktail making at home, please consider buying your favourite spirits and upskilling through the recipes on their website. For the New Zealand shop, click here. For the UK shop, click here. 

Crosstown Doughnuts

You would struggle to find many Kiwis in London who haven’t heard of Crosstown. For the past 5 years they have brought to us the latest sensation of sourdough doughnuts. Like so many businesses, Crosstown has been massively affected by Covid 19. Recognising that they could not survive trying to do business as they previously have. But knowing that people still need to be fed, and looking at the capacities they had across logistics, people, product and technology – Crosstown Doughnuts banded together with Millers Bespoke Bakery & The Estate Dairy to create a Collective.

Between these companies they employ hundreds of people in offices, retail shops, logistics and in milk, food & bakery production. They needed to keep as many of these people working as possible. Together they bring you The Crosstown Collective. Using their industry contacts, they have sourced great local fruit & vegetables, coffee and even granola. A UK business with some Kiwi ingenuity thrown in for good measure. You can purchase a food box here.

Other Kiwi businesses in the UK which you can support:

  • Caravan Coffee Roasters. Caravan have announced their opening dates, check their website for details! In the meantime enjoy their artisan specialty coffee delivered straight to your door. The finest beans from around the world, selected and roasted in London. 
  • Clapton Craft. Clapton Craft are a craft beer and growler retailer with stores in Clapton, Kentish Town, Walthamstow, Finsbury Park and Forest Hill. Check out their online store for their full offering! 
  • Hops Burns and Black. Craft beer, hot sauce and records – finally all together. Check out their online store until the Peckham/East Dulwich and Deptford stores reopen.
  • Karma Cola. Good looking, great tasting, do gooding drinks. Good for our planet, our growers, and as good for you as fizzy drinks can be. #DrinkNoEvil. Get yours from Amazon, Ocado and Waitrose online.
  • Koru Kids. Kiwi founded, London based childcare service which specialises in after school nannies and helping families to find nanny shares, and offering Covid-19 Short-Term cover. Trying to work, homeschool and keep your kids calm and happy in this scary time? We can help. We have vetted, trained, energetic nannies in all of London’s neighbourhoods ready to help you with your short-term childcare.
  • Mere Restaurant. This South-Pacific French restaurant has announced it’s opening dates. Check out their website for details!
  • Ozone Coffee Roasters. Roasters of specialty coffee for flavor in the cup at home or in cafes, restaurants, offices and businesses. We are still shipping as usual to your lock-down location – home, working from home and business location.
  • Parkway Taxis. This Kiwi-owned and operated taxi business is available in Devon. If you’re getting off a train at Tiverton Parkway from London Paddington or Reading, look them up.
  • Pics Peanut Butter. Fresh roasted peanuts, lovingly squished in sunny Nelson, New Zealand. Get yours from Amazon and Tesco.
  • Provenance Village Butchers. Provenance is a modern interpretation of a traditional village butcher. They offer a next day delivery service to W1, W2, W8, W9, W10, SW1, SW3, SW5, SW7, SW10, NW6, NW8 and NW10.
  • Sacred Coffee.  We have been enjoying their gourmet coffee and tea for years… and their lolly cake. Gourmet coffee, tea and L&P available straight to your door.
  • SANZA.  Your one stop food shop that bring Australian, New Zealand, South African foods to ex-pats across London and the UK. When you may be feeling far from home, SANZA brings the taste of home to your front door.
  • Sarah Angel Photography.  Sarah Angel is a Surray-based photographer specialising in family photography. With safety measures in place, Sarah’s practice is open for business!
  • Secret Goldmine.  Secret Goldmine produces mouthwatering pies. A Kiwi delicacy which they are now delivering too!
  • Specialist Cellars. Wines of the new world. Melanie Brown has been bringing the best of New Zealand wines to the UK for many years. Jump on line and fill up the cellar.
  • The Laundry. This Brixton based bistro has recently announced its reopening dates. Check out their website for more details!
  • The New Zealand Beer Collective. At the NZ Beer Collective we have scaled back, are following all distancing guidelines and locking things down, but we really don’t know what else to do but keep selling beer. We have put in place a way to buy the beer directly from us, delivered safely anywhere in the UK, at some lockdown pricing. Contact Todd for the latest at [email protected].
  • Tried and True Cafe offer award winning innovative breakfasts, light lunches and serious espresso. Rob and the team look forward to welcoming you to this gem in Putney.
  • Yeastie Boys. New Zealand beer brewed here! Yeastie Boys have been brewing up a storm for the past 5 years in the UK. They want to keep their beer arriving to Kiwi fridges around the nation. Shop now on their new online store, and get a tasty 10% discount with your code of K1W1.

This list isn’t exhaustive and focuses on those who we know are trading through Covid-19 current restrictions. This list will be expanded on in the coming weeks. If you are a New Zealander in Business in the UK and would like to be listed here please contact [email protected]

Maryellen, Jeremy, and Jeremy’s half-sister Kate.

How did Piha Pies come about?

I’m from Auckland and moved to the UK in 1991 as a young cameraman and I’m now a Director of Photography working for all the channels including the BBC, C4 and most recently Netflix.

As a Kiwi, I always wondered why you couldn’t get a decent pie in the UK like the ones in NZ. So after many years of talking about it, in 2018 my wife Susanne and I took the plunge and started a little side business making pies from our converted outbuilding in Forest Hill. Then in September that year, we set up our first market stall at Norwood Feast market in South London – and quickly followed up with other markets, pop-ups and events.

We called named it Piha Pies after my favourite beach on the west coast near Auckland, where I spent a lot of time in my teens, and it’s where I return to every time I’m home and I always grab a pie or two from The Piha Store.

The pies were baked on old family recipes. What’s the story behind that?

This is quite a story. I always enjoyed cooking and when I was younger and it was a toss up whether to go into cooking or into TV work. TV work won out and cooking was put on the back burner.  Then about 6 years ago I found out a huge family secret. On a Christmas visit back to Auckland, my mum and dad sat me down and told me that I had in fact been adopted and that my birth mother wanted to get in touch with me. Although this was a massive shock, there was a silver lining…..

3 months later, after the dust settled I decided to find out who my birth mother was, so I tentatively picked up the phone and asked the adoption agency my mother’s name. I immediately googled her and up popped a newspaper article about Maryellen, the owner of a well renowned cafe in Kohu Kohu, Northland – famous for its pies.

Many months later after many email exchanges, getting to know each other and bonding over pie talk and a general love of food and cooking, we met up in NZ. I showed her photos of my childhood and got to sample some of her famous pies, which were laid out for my welcome. Talk turned to my dream of having a pie shop in London one day and plans were hatched to be taught some of Maryellen’s recipes. So, about a year later when she eventually visited me and Susanne in London, she taught me the family pie recipes. All the recipes were in Maryellen’s head, nothing was written down. We spent the next year practising her recipes, perfecting our own recipes and testing them out on family, friends and neighbours.

For our first market, Maryellen and my new-found sister Kate, also a great pie maker, happened to be over from New Zealand. They were able to give helpful advice and were like a lucky charm because the 100 pies sold out and Piha Pies got really positive feedback.

Do you attract mainly homesick Kiwi customers?

There are always lots of Kiwi customers at the pie stall but it is mostly Brits. What is incredible though is the number of British pie eaters coming back across the market to tell us they are the best pies they’ve ever had – which proves the power and draw of the Kiwi pie.

Since lockdown, we have started doing delivery of our pies – and there is a huge proportion of Kiwi buyers looking for comfort food from home.

Are there any particular moments that stand out in your journey?

It was an incredible moment to find out that we had won Best Newcomer in the British Pie Awards this year on top of a few other awards.

But the thing that really ignited our journey was the revelation that after all the years of talking about opening a pie shop my biological mother was already a professional pie maker and she was able to give such invaluable advice on how to start a food business.

Do you have a personal favourite pie?

We love them all and it’s hard to choose which is a favourite. It depends on what mood you’re in but if we had to choose, mine would be Pepper Steak and Susanne’s is Potato Top.

What are your plans for the future?

We want to expand the business so we can start supplying other businesses – we’ve had lots of requests from Delis, Butchers and Cafes to supply them with our pies. We would love to eventually start selling them in high end food stores and supermarkets so Kiwis and Brits across the UK can get hold of them easily. So we will be looking for investment to move into a bigger kitchen and start employing a team to upscale our output and distribution. 

CONTRIBUTOR

Jeremy Huson

Co-Founder

Piha Pies

Kea member

As the founder and CEO of a company with a presence in a range of markets, what unique opportunities do you think the Asian market presents to New Zealand companies?

Asia is a massive region, and in reality each country is very much their own market, with local supply chains, language, culture and currency all very different. What makes Asia great on this front is you can find a niche or get an entry point, and even scale up by just getting one Asian country working, or establishing an Asia HQ in Singapore or Hong Kong and branching out from there.

Asia has three major countries and large markets that stand-out, China, India and Japan. Each of these countries are billion dollar opportunities for almost any product or service, so trying to do more than one of these at the same time is a tall order. Achieving scale in just one will set your business alight, and you’ll have your Asia cornerstone. The other approach with Asia, and one we’ve taken with 90 Seconds, has been to establish a regional HQ in Singapore, as it is in a good central location in Asia.

Key benefits of a Singapore based Asia Regional HQ:

  1. Singapore is the regional HQ for hundreds of the world’s global companies and a node for many Asia HQ’d companies, so it’s got both the buyers and sellers to form your customer base and create partnerships that will help drive your Asia go to market strategy.
  2. English is the primary language which removes a whole world of barriers if you’re an English speaking / Kiwi company. You’ll benefit from having a melting pot of Asian and other international talent and cultures combined. You can build a team who share a common language, but speak 10-15+ languages from around Asia as we have. This enables you to reach and remote control into Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Korea, China etc with your pan Asia team. It’s a joy.
  3. Putting aside the recent challenges, travelling around Asia from Singapore is easy.It’s cheap, it’s made for business, and departing from and arriving back to your base in Singapore is the nicest flying experience in the world.

Given the travel restrictions and social distancing measures put in place this year, how has this affected the way 90 Seconds operates, and how have you adapted?

For 90 Seconds, the lock downs have effectively killed film shoots, so that’s been a tough, instantaneous hit for us, our brands and creators. But conversely, we have over 12,000 90 Seconds creators, in 100+ countries, so as the lock-downs ease but the travel restrictions and likely slow recovery continue, the idea of flying film crews around (which is what many brands and agencies still do), will seem crazy. Our hyper-local creators become an even more valuable solution than they were before. We’re a completely online platform, so for brand managers and marketers who are stuck at home or not able to travel, using a platform makes more sense than ever. To cater for social distancing and safety, we’ve got clean shoot products in the market now, with specific production workflows to support hygienic and safe shoots in these odd times.

In terms of the company and organisation, the immediate demand hit is significant, and we’ve carefully aligned work, time and pay, especially in direct revenue connected teams, to make sure the company and jobs are stable mid to long term. It’s tough and we work super hard to strike the balance and support people, but it’s truly a different and false economy that’s been created. With the usual freedoms and autonomy taken away, it’s all about the most affected people right-sizing their personal economies to match the company’s shrunken economy, so we all come out together.

From a business development perspective, we’re a pretty online company, but also have sales and delivery teams in seven countries, so the lock-down and travel restrictions really drive the further transition to an ‘Inside Sales’ approach, where teams in one place are managing customers all over the world. This gives companies a better shot at driving revenue in international markets without having to travel as it’s become the norm. Embrace it, video and screen share more than ever, and reach those markets.

I’m also just completing a capital raise, so that’s been tough with Covid-19. I would usually lap the world several times over, from San Francisco, to New York, London, Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore, as the in-person experience is a powerful thing. However with the playing field now online, and investors who usually prefer to meet in person still needing to do deals, these deals are now being done from the lounge, pants optional!

Do you think the inability to travel is going to change the way people do business in the future?

I’m a native internet entrepreneur and built 90 Seconds without any offices or personally being in any one location. I’ve lived in cities across the globe for two decades, so believe it will continue to be valued until it’s mainstream. This disruption to the world is a catalyst to force this change upon people and companies. The idea of travelling and competing for resources from roads to cafes at peak hours has always seemed like the ultimate dead weight on people’s lives socially and financially, the lost productivity is crazy and perpetual.

How do you think how people communicate and share content will change as a result of Covid-19?

Video calls, screen sharing and collaboratively editing content are the basics of building direct relationships between team members, partners and customers. This works incredibly well, and it’s about to go to the next level.

If you could give one piece of advice to SME’s looking to expand into the Asian market, what would it be?

Hire someone local so you’re building a go to market plan in market, with the market. Don’t over formulate things on your own or with your team in New Zealand, make your in market ‘local team’ and potential Asia-based customers and partners part of the process. Like New Zealand, Asian countries value relationships, but Asia also can move really fast and that can be great for business. The region has a very long way to go. Businesses in Asia are always thinking about expansion and only see an expanding market – and as an Asia Pacific nation, Kiwis can join right in.

CONTRIBUTOR

Tim Norton

Founder & CEO

90 Seconds

Kea member

Clair Mills in Chad, 2007.

Can you explain a bit about the work of Médecins Sans Frontières?

MSF provides medical care to people in over 70 countries, primarily in contexts of conflict, epidemics and humanitarian crises. These vary from surgical and trauma projects in Yemen to HIV projects in Southern Africa, Ebola in Congo, maternity and child health in the Sahel (West Africa); health care in refugee camps from Bangladesh to Uganda, for people displaced in their own country, and migrants. And now with the COVID19 pandemic we are also supporting medical activities in Europe, with a focus on those who are most vulnerable or who miss out on health care. See www.msf.org for more info.

How did you come to work for MSF?

By chance really! After finishing my hospital and GP training in NZ, back in 1992 I answered an advert in a medical magazine and then visited the MSF office in Amsterdam – either they were impressed I’d come all the way from NZ, or I must have sounded very convincing! I spent 3 and a half years in the field with MSF, did a Masters in London and then worked for other organizations for a few years (WHO and Save the Children (UK), in DRCongo and Mozambique).

After coming back to NZ to complete my public health medicine specialist training, I was medical director for the Dutch MSF section for nearly 5 yrs. I’ve alternated working for MSF with public health medicine in Tai Tokerau since then – with a couple of short missions with MSF (cholera in Papua New Guinea, Ebola in 2014/15 in Sierra Leone) and now, since mid 2017, as medical director for MSF France.

During a pandemic where so many are at risk, how does MSF assess where the most vulnerable are and how to allocate resources?

It’s a major challenge. Firstly we need to protect our staff, in order to be able to respond effectively anywhere. Then in all the countries we work, we are adapting our projects to minimise transmission of infection, maintain critical services, supporting the public health authorities, and/ or setting up specific COVID19 treatment units.

We are particularly concerned about the impact of the pandemic on people living in areas of conflict such as Yemen, Gaza, Syria and Burkina Faso, where accessing populations to provide health care was already a major problem before the pandemic. There are also other specific groups we think are particularly at risk – people living with HIV, malnourished children, patients with TB and other diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

In addition, the impact of COVID19 on health services in many places means that for some time, many children may not get vaccinated, nor receive treatment for malaria; that more women die in childbirth, that more people do not have access to critical health care…

As so many countries have shut their borders, how has this affected the operations of MSF?

We have international staff in all our projects – and obviously this has really affected the ability to send people places- or to get them home. We do have very experienced and competent national staff, so we can largely maintain the activities so far. But we have had to reduce some specialist activities, especially surgical. There are also other important constraints now, imposed by the EU, on exporting medicines and personal protective equipment (masks, gloves etc) from Europe to other regions. As we depend on international supply chains, this is very concerning – and we are advocating to have exceptions made for humanitarian organizations.

Health workers around the world are increasingly becoming stretched thin by the sheer scale of the pandemic, and many medical professionals are coming out of retirement to help. Is MSF struggling to keep up with the demand for assistance?

Many of my colleagues, and specialists in my department here in Paris, are working in their home countries in the pandemic response. We still have international staff available but we have certainly noticed a drop in the numbers available.

For those of us sitting at home, how are we able to help MSF?

‘Be kind’ and ‘stay at home’, seem like very good advice right now! But of course MSF needs the ongoing financial support of our supporters and donors – mostly people like you and me, who give a few dollars a month. 90% of MSF’s income is from individual donors, and this gives us an exceptional independence and a flexibility which most other organisations don’t have. I hope that despite the difficult times, people do consider those worse off than themselves, and continue to support organizations like MSF.

CONTRIBUTOR

Clair Mills

Medical Director, Paris

Médecins Sans Frontières

Kea member

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