New Zealand's Economic Interests in Southeast Asia

Extract

One would hardly expect New Zealand, whose population has yet to reach three million and which still exports very largely pastoral and forest products, to play a really significant part in Asian trade. Nevertheless surprise, or disappointment, may well be felt at the trifling contribution revealed by Table 1. Most of New Zealand's Asian exports go to Japan but, in 1967, were less than 1 per cent of Japan's total imports, and the remainder going to developing Asian countries were less than 1/3 per cent of their imports. New Zealand, in fact, exports more to Australia than to them, although they have a vastly bigger population and Australia has a range of export industries which compete with those of New Zealand.