NEAR EAST TRADE BOOM.

Hokitika Guardian, 6 April 1920, Page 1

NEAR EAST TRADE BOOM.

BRITISH EXPORTERS’ CHANCE. LONDON, Jan. 20. “British industries have a chance to reconstruct trade with the Near East such as we shall never get again,” said .Major Kennard, commissioner of the Federation of British Industries, who is home on leave.

“Before the war our trade was declining; in proportion German and Austrian trade was mounting. Our chance seemed gone for ever. But prompt action to-day can reverse the position.” The attitude of the people of Greece, Major Kennard pointed out, is more than Anglophile. They are ready to buy all varieties of our products. Turkey, too, is full of money and produce, and some very profitable trading has been done. Many consignments shipped for South Russia trade have been diverted to the Levant on account of Bolshevist activities preventing distribution in the Crimea. The capacity of the Near East to absorb goods seems illimitable. Constantinople, in Major Keiinard’s view, is bound to be the commercial gateway between East and West. ” The advice to British exporters is : remember the importance of new foreign markets now while the chances are good. Select local agents with care, after reference to the federation, the commercial attache, or the British Chamber of Commerce in Athens. Send out a French-speaking representative at least once a year to visit agents and “ginger up” trade activities.