N.Z. TRADE WITH INDONESIA

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28262, 27 April 1957, Page 2

N.Z. TRADE WITH INDONESIA

Chance Seen .For Good Market

Indonesia must welcome an opportunity to ship her exports regularly and frequently to New Zealand ports, and he saw no likelihood of the Royal Interocean Lines being shut out of the Republic for political reasons, said Mr A. van Bochove, the company’s general manager for Australia and New Zealand, in Christchurch yesterday. When the Dutch shipping company was running a six-weekly service from Malaya and Indonesian ports before World War 11, the archipelago was part of the Netherlands colonial empire. Mr van Bochove, after living in Australia for 23 years and having married a Dunedin-born woman, is so uncolonial-mindea that, he confessed yesterday, he does not even like referring to New Zealand as “the Dominion.’’

The two ships now on the New Zealand run—the Roggeveen is due at Lyttelton today—are part of a fleet of 50 ships. The line already serves African ports and Mr van Eochove sees the possibility of linking New Zealand regularly to that service. He found Christchurch importers most receptive yesterday, as this would ensure much better shipments of fish solubles, canned goods, fresh oranges, pineapples, sisal, and wine. When she sails from New Zealand this trip, the Roggeveen will be loaded with milk powder, tallow and wool for Chinese ports. The Van Neck, due in May, is already fully booked for a cargo of wood pulp, to be loaded direct at Mount Maunganui, rpeat, and other produce. The only direction in which Mr van Bochove can see no chance of an extension of his company’s service is to Hong Kong and Japan. Those ports are part of the Far East Shipping Conference.

In his efforts to re-establish the South-east Asian service, said Mr van Bochove, he had had every assistance from Mr Peter Hampton, the New Zealand Trade Commissioner in Singapore.