Trade mission opens doors for Auckland business

News Release
19 October 2012

Trade mission opens doors for Auckland business

The first Auckland trade mission to Korea and Taiwan has let both economies know that Auckland is well and truly open for business.

The Mayor is back in Auckland after leading top executives from Auckland companies to the economic powerhouses of Seoul and Taipei, and Auckland's partner cities of Busan and Pohang in Korea and Taichung in Taiwan.

"This has been a positive mission," says Len Brown. "Our delegates have made good connections with potential investors, both for investing directly into Auckland and working on joint projects."

"I have also had some very good discussions with the city mayors and their top officials about key city infrastructure, urban planning, public transport, waste management and protecting both livability and the environment."

The 17 Auckland businesses represented on the mission came from the ICT, animation and creative content, infrastructure, investment and education sectors.

In a debrief session prior to departing Taipei, delegates were adamant that the presence and advocacy of the Mayor, Councillor Arthur Anae in Korea and Councillor George Wood in Taiwan had been instrumental in opening doors to new opportunities and gaining them meetings with high-level decision makers they may not have had access to individually.

"I am also glad we could help announce the co-investment partnership between the Auckland-based New Zealand Venture Investment Fund and Taiwan's National Development Fund. It seems to me that there is a good sync between the Auckland and Taiwan economies in terms of focus and scale."

The Mayor says it was good to travel with Councillor George Wood on the Taiwan leg of the mission, to see the mana he had gained from developing the partner city relationship with Taichung when he was the Mayor of North Shore City.

Cr Wood says this trip has reignited the close relationship with Taichung City.

"The warmth of the friendship that has evolved bodes well for developing strong business and cultural ties between the two cities. We can also learn a lot from the huge economic success Taiwan has achieved. We have a solid platform to build on, and the Mayor and the delegates received a huge reception from all three cities we visited in Taiwan, which holds great promise for the future."

The Mayor says it is vital that Auckland becomes an international city, attracting foreign business and investment, exporting ideas and high-value products, and forging global connections to ensure its economic future.

"Like our mission to China, this trip underlined the importance of our partner city relationships and how we can leverage those relationships for our mutual benefit. Several times, the mayors we visited picked up the phone to facilitate high-level meetings for our delegates. In addition to shared business, three partner cities are interested in pursuing cultural, artistic and educational exchanges."

"The trip also underlined to me the effectiveness of formulating robust plans for the future of cities and economies and fully committing to delivering them. Everywhere we went we saw this level of planning, and collaboration to deliver on those plans from local and central government, academia, business and the wider community. The success of this approach is clear."

The Mayor says visits to places like the Park Lane department store in Taichung, an award-winning green redevelopment of a parking building, and the biggest department store in the world, Shinsegae, in Busan, brought home the importance of attracting top retail brand names to draw domestic and foreign visitors.

"This mission was also a testament to the power of collaboration. We saw the economic success of public and private sectors working in tandem.

“We presented a strong front for Auckland and New Zealand by working closely with MFAT and NZTE in Korea and the New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office in Taiwan, and we also saw collaboration within the Auckland contingent, with several of our delegates now working on a joint project."

Auckland Council would like to thank MFAT, NZTE and the NZCIO in Taiwan, our partner cities of Busan, Pohang and Taichung, and corporate sponsors for their support of the mission.

Ends

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