TRADE WITH EAST

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 752, 27 August 1929, Page 10

TRADE WITH EAST

SHIPPING MANAGER HERE To INVESTIGATE POSSIBILITIES DIRECT STEAMER SERVICE There is a big market in the East Indies for New Zealand produce. and the possibilities of a big market in New Zealand for produce front the East. Just at present this subject is 0( keen interest to Dominion merchantand traders. Recently a visitor from Java stated that a Dutch company was buildim. a big cargo and passenger ship a view to trading directly between New Zealand and the East Indies, but apparently this is not correct. How. ever, it has created interest, both in shipping and trading circles. . Mr. A. J. Pronk. manager for the Royal Packet Navigation Company ln ' Australia and New Zealand, accotni panied by one of his directors, Mr \\- B. Evarts, is at present in Auckland’ and the result of their visit mav me ' | that the company will eventually inaugurate a direct service. The Royal Packet Navigation Com pany has its headquarters at Batavia and Amsterdam, and has a fleet of 15* ships trading from the East to alnicsall parts of the world. Today Mr. Pronk is busy calling on merchants and businessmen in Xu-’ j land to find out for himself how they view the situation. He has already j visited Wellington and Napier. whe-« !he spent some days with promineir : commercial men. He has come with an open mind on the subject, he says, although he admits that at present New Zealand i is handicapped by the lack of direct I trade routes to the Dutch East Indie, j and the Far East. “There is not the slightest chance i of our building a ship at the moment ■ he said today. “It would be silly build first and then come to New land afterward to discuss the question j of trade. “ “We have come to see for ourselves | what the possibilities are. There i, i certainly a big market here for our produce, and a big market in the Eaq: i Indies for your goods.” Mr. Pronk stated that the charges for trans-shipping goods for the East at Australian ports added so greatly to their cost when they landed in the ports of the East Indies, that it pre! vented New Zealand from gaining a real foothold on the Eastern markets. A direct line would remove those charges. Tea. sugar, kapoc. coffee, cocoa spices, rice, rubber and many other commodities were produced in the East, and New Zealand goods, prince pally tinned jams, meats and milk as well as biscuits and cheese and other produce were iu demand in Java Batavia, Borneo and the Malay States! This demand, apparently, is growinbut Mr. Pronk does not advise send! ing .New Zealand representatives of firms to those countries until a direct service is running. Australia is well served with transport to the East, and last year her reports to the countries there totalled £17,000,000. Of this sum about £12,000,000 worth consisted of butter cheese, meat, tinned fruit and jam? a great deal of which New Zealand could supply. Throughout the East there are larce cold-storage plants, and New Zealaud merchants would have no fear of their goods not getting the necessary care on arrival. Apart from the commercial aspect there is a large and growing tourist i traffic. Many New Zealanders and a large number of Australians are going | north during the winter months, and j all of them return with pleasant recollections of the excellent hotel accommodation and splendid climate. ! On his return to Sydney Mr. Pronk I will consult with his directors, and a . final decision will be made regarding j the inauguration of a direct shipping j line to the Dominion. He will stay in 1 Auckland until Friday.