FOSTERING FOREIGN TRADE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2597, 3 September 1909, Page 5

FOSTERING FOREIGN TRADE.

NEW ZEALAND METHODS CRITICISED. [Per Press Association.] PALMERSTON N., Sept 2. Mr. Hwang, Chinese Consul, is not enamoured of New Zealand methods of fostering trade with foreigners, especally with the Far East. He considers there are many things of which New Zealand could supply large quantities to China, but the only trade done with that country is by a few Chinese merchants. For instance, such things as fungus, sharks’ fins, and beebe-de-mer, which are esteemed as such delicacies in China, are to be got readily in New Zealand, but none of the merchants seem to think it worth while establishing a trade in such things, while little is done in the more common products of mutton, beef, and wool, which find ready markets in China. Mr. Hwang spoke of the casual way in which New Zealand conducted with foreign countries. “New Zealand people don’t seem to know how to trade,” he said to a “Standard” reporter yesterday. “They rarely, if ever, seek trade. Any trade done with foreign countries is the result of the work of agents of those countries, and not through any effort on part of New Zealand. They are content to send exports to English-speaking countries, and have got the idea that they can keep it among themselves. That is not good business.”