Articles — Exporter Magazine

Shipping goods to overseas customers requires specialised services and sound knowledge. It’s a job best left to the experts. This guide is designed to de-mystify freight forwarding for the uninitiated. L anding a precious cargo on the other side of the world in one piece and on time is complex and risky for exporters, but it is the daily bread of freight forwarders.

Exporters can free up cashflow by tapping into various trade finance tools provided by the banks and other lending institutions. From the time of the ancient Babylonians, promissory notes or the ‘promise to pay’ has been a powerful tool for leveraging cashflow. New Zealand exporters can free up vital cashflow for their business by tapping into various forms of trade finance tools offered by the banks and other lending institutions.

Established 17 years ago as a showcase for Kiwi exporters, The New Zealand Trade Centre has been revitalised into a world-class facility just in time for the Rugby World Cup. Exporter magazine caught up with MD Alister Gates just prior to the reopening. J ust like the ‘Makeover’ shows on TV, if you compared the ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos of the New Zealand Trade Centre’s refurbishment, you’d wonder if you’re looking at the same place.

It’s not easy to get a toehold in the booming South Korean market. But two New Zealand companies are pushing open doors for other Kiwis in very different ways. Ruth Le Pla filed this report from Seoul. S imon Walsh nibbles on Whittaker’s chocolate in his air-conditioned slice of Kiwi-land in sticky Seoul. US soldiers from the nearby military base stroll past the window in search of their mid-morning caffeine fix. To Walsh, it’s just business as usual.

Sistema Plastics is successful on so many levels – not least of which the controlled way it goes about conquering export markets. And it takes great pride in maintaining its world-class manufacturing base on these shores. Co-founder and marketing director Allin Russell shares some valuable export lessons. Allin Russell greets me in the reception area of Sistema Plastics modern Penrose factory and ushers me into a display room of his company’s products.

Stephen N. Anderson offers a broad-based viewpoint on how to best approach new export markets. It is a seductive logic that plants the seed of replicating successful, current business practices into the plan for entering a new market. It seems to make sense. Why tamper with success?