Northland Inc welcomes choice of Graham Lintott

Northland Inc welcomes choice of Graham Lintott, Lockheed Martin NZ, as export speaker for NZTE international Business Roadshow

The choice of US global defence prime contractor Lockheed Martin’s New Zealand managing director, Graham Lintott, as export speaker for the Northland event of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise’s (NZTE) International Business Roadshow on Monday (October 19) has been welcomed by hosts Northland Inc.

David Wilson, CEO for the regional development agency, says having someone with credentials and experience of Mr Lintott is a coup for Northland at the roadshow which also features an impressive lineup of other speakers who will cover the key markets of opportunity for New Zealand businesses – the USA, Australia, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

“This is a very important roadshow event for Northland businesses, probably the most significant since New Zealand joined the World Trade Organisation’s Government Procurement Agreement which came into effect back in July,” Mr Wilson says.

“It means that New Zealand businesses, including Northland, have guaranteed access to bid for a share of an estimated US$1.7 trillion in annual overseas government contracts and are now able to do business freely across 43 WTO member countries, including the US, Canada, Japan and 28 countries of the EU.”

He says having someone with the experience of Mr Lintott who served for 40 years in the Royal New Zealand Airforce including as Air Vice-Marshal and Chief of Airforce, and was posted as the Defence Attaché to the United States of America, speak at the event, reflected the importance being placed on opening up trade opportunities for Northland firms.

“He has been Managing Director, Strategy and Business Development in New Zealand since last year and not only will he provide a general overview of Lockheed Martin but also give us an insight into the depth and breadth of their programmes and capabilities,” Mr Wilson says.

“More importantly though he will provide some general guidance for small to medium enterprises (SMEs) on opportunities and approaches for access to the global supply chain, as well as sharing some lessons learned from recent experiences of New Zealand businesses.”

Mr Lintott says he is pleased to be able to contribute to the Northland event.

“I am delighted to be able to share insights with Northland businesses on the defence marketplace and how they can make the most of opportunities that exist,” He says.

The roadshow event features a number of other speakers such as Janet Clarke (Vice President, The Gormley Group) who will provide Insight and Tips for working with United States government markets; Kirsten Gosch (Business Development Manager, NZTE Hamburg) who will do the same for The UK and European Union government markets; Rob Little (Business Development Manager, NZTE Sydney) who will speak about the Australian government markets and Warner Cowin (Director, Height Project Management) who will explain to attendees all about winning government business.

Mark Mitchell, MP for Rodney, and Chair of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee will also speak at the event.

Mr Wilson says the calibre of speakers shows the emphasis NZTE is putting into ensuring that Northland and other regions get a fair chance of competing for contracts on offer.

“There a number or sectors where Northland companies and businesses may be able compete and this roadshow is about showing them how to go about tendering for government contracts offshore,” he says.

“It is all about opening up opportunities for our businesses to win international contracts.”

Government purchasing makes up approximately 15 percent of the world-wide economy, and international governments are looking for the types of products and services New Zealand offers.

NZTE points out that for New Zealand there are opportunities in IT, manufacturing, services, health, education, marine, aviation, engineers and communications equipment companies to sell to international governments.

Government buyers for defence and security, health, transport, ports and aviation, food and agriculture, forestry and land, housing, energy, utilities and water, education, banking and taxes as well as science and research want to talk to New Zealand companies.

ENDS

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