Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, NOV. 25, 1946. SEARCH FOR OVERSEAS MARKETS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 54, 25 November 1946, Page 4

Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, NOV. 25, 1946. SEARCH FOR OVERSEAS MARKETS

LIKE most other countries, New Zealand is to send out trade commissioners to seek trade in other lands. Dominion representatives are to go to New York, Montreal, Sydney and Melbourne. These officers will not, as before the war, carry the additional responsibility of promoting tourist traffic, primarily, perhaps, because New Zealand will not be able to cater for large numbers of tourists since accommodation and other facilities are not available. They will concentrate exclusively on commerce in implementation of the Government’s policy that the Dominion should be represented in other export markets besides Britain, the principal customer, and that trade relations with other countries should be restored. The Minister of Commerce, Mr D. G. Sullivan, hopes that in addition to the traditional export of primary produce there will be worthwhile increases in exports of manufactured goods, more particularly where the raw materials are produced in New Zealand. The Minister has hopes especially in India and the South-Western Pacific. In appropriating expenditure for this purpose, however, it will be necessary to take cognisance of several aspects of post-war world trade which may in the early stages facilitate and later limit New Zealand exports of manufactured goods. The expenditure should not be out of reasonable proportion to the probable return. The first consideration must be that New Zealand as a high-cost country cannot expect to compete with manufactures from countries whose costs are lower and where mass production has been developed. For some time there may be a demand for manufactured goods at almost any price because of the worldwide shortage. But in every manufacturing country the wheels are beginning to turn again, and competition, particularly between Britain and the United States, will be keener than ever before. Already British and American gopds are beginning to flood through the East in growing volume. There may be some lines in which New Zealand may have something like a monopoly or a special aptitude, 'and certainly these should be developed, but it would be unwise to place too much reliance upon an extensive export trade in manufactures. There are reasons why it is undesirable to place all the eggs in one basket. For many years the vast’ preponderance of New -Zealand’s exports has consisted of purely primary products. If manufactures can be sold, so much the better, yet it would be extremely unwise in any way to prejudice the main export for the purpose of embarking upon an export trade in manufacture. Such exports can be only an auxiliary, though perhaps a useful one, to the primary industries. Under the Dominion’s high-cost policy the products of the land almost alone are assured of the ability to compete in price and quality on the world’s markets. That is a tribute not only to the climate and fertility of the country but also to the industry and organising ability of the primary producers.