MPI’s Diana Reaich: Building global trade relationships
Relationships are key to opening new trading opportunities and dealing with some of the rules that countries impose that impede the free flow of trade.
Post Covid, Ray Smith, director general of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), says there is a big opportunity to take our primary product to the rest of the world.
He says people trust our products and trust what we produce in NZ.
In our big sectors – meat and dairy – demand for our product continues to be strong and the diversification into a whole range of markets has really helped, Smith says. He also believes there are enormous opportunities in horticulture.
“Everyone I talk to in that industry wants to make greater investments,” he told Rural News.
“People are looking for land and investment opportunities to grow high value horticulture. We could see, across the next decade, new fruit varieties – such as dragon fruit – come along and a further push on avocados to get those fruit over the billion dollar mark.”
Smith says there is a tendency to underestimate the importance of biosecurity in our everyday practices on farm. He points out that much of NZ’s success on the trade side is due to the fact that we are free of pests and diseases and that gives us access to markets in countries which value this.
Also paramount on the trade front Smith says is sustainability. He says a strong commitment to this is critical if NZ is to negotiate good trade deals with places such as the EU.
“NZ’s sustainability story is very compelling to those countries in the European area who are also striving for the same thing. We have got a lot in common.”
Applications have now opened for the 2026 Meat Industry Association scholarships.
Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) says it is backing aspiring dairy farmers through a new initiative designed to make the first step to farm ownership or sharemilking easier.
OPINION: While farmers are busy and diligently doing their best to deal with unwanted gasses, the opponents of farming - namely the Greens and their mates - are busy polluting the atmosphere with tirades of hot air about what farmers supposedly aren't doing.
OPINION: For close to eight years now, I have found myself talking about methane quite a lot.
The Royal A&P Show of New Zealand, hosted by the Canterbury A&P Association, is back next month, bigger and better after the uncertainty of last year.
Claims that farmers are polluters of waterways and aquifers and 'don't care' still ring out from environmental groups and individuals. The phrase 'dirty dairying' continues to surface from time to time. But as reporter Peter Burke points out, quite the opposite is the case. He says, quietly and behind the scenes, farmers are embracing new ideas and technologies to make their farms sustainable, resilient, environmentally friendly and profitable.
OPINION: The Greens have taken the high moral ground on the Palestine issue and been leading political agitators in related…
One of the most galling aspects of the tariffs whacked on our farm exports to the US is the fact…