This is your last week to grab the Early Bird special rate for Go Global!

The 26th May is approaching fast and the programme is looking fantastic - check it out here.

• Hear about market opportunities from four New Zealand Ambassadors: Michael Swain (Spain), Clare Kelly (Mexico), Mark Sinclair (Japan) and Haikke Manning (Vietnam).
• Discover ways to create market cut-through with clever marketing, innovation and traceability, in our break-out sessions.
• Be challenged to future-proof your business and love disruption, from Gary Bolls, co-founder of eParachute.com.
• Hear from Diane Wang beaming in live from China to share how she developed DHGate into an e-commerce site with nearly 10 million global buyers.

Plus so much more. I look forward to seing you there. Register here now!

Catherine Beard
027 463 3212 or cbeard@exportnz.org.nz

In this month's Trade Update I look at what's going on with the China FTA upgrade. Also...

• Is there hope on the horizon for the GCC FTA after Minister McCully's visit?
• Iran now looks like a promising market for many New Zealand exporters
• EU trade is growing strongly
• and TPP remains a big issue in the US primary campaign. More...

C Beard

We're pleased to welcome James and Wells to our family of sponsors for Go Global this year. Along with their support for the conference (which goes towards making ticket prices more affordable) they have a wealth of business advice on how to protect your biggest assets and leverage them to your best advantage here and in overseas markets.

Here's a useful article from Ceri Wells, Partner at James & Wells, about how SMEs in New Zealand can overcome the challenges posed by commercialising their innovation. Click here to read article.

Thailand and Malaysia are two of ASEAN’s strongest economies and are our eighth and ninth trading partners respectively. This is your chance to have one-on-one meetings with key decision makers, customers and partners, to help you generate new business and deeply understand these markets.

The New Zealand – Thailand Closer Economic Partnership
(CEP) has opened up the Thai market. Within 10 years of
being signed, tariffs on virtually all manufactured goods have
disappeared, with the remaining ones finally going by 2025.

Malaysia has free trade agreements with Japan, Pakistan, New Zealand, Chile, Australia, ASEAN and India, and it has plans to further strengthen its vibrant ICT industry. More...

Snowball Effect is an online marketplace for private equity investment opportunities. It facilitates capital raising for growth companies through public offers, private offers, and wholesale investor offers. For companies, it’s a complete capital raising package and access to a wide investor audience, so it’s a quick and efficient way to raise funds. For investors, it’s a simple channel to discover and invest in private growth businesses.

The market is only 21 months old, but already Snowball has seen a high number of Kiwi expats attracted to the marketplace.

Snowball is running a prize draw for expat Kiwis - every New Zealander residing overseas who registers as a Snowball Effect member before 30 April will go in the draw to win a $1,000 gift voucher for investment through Snowball Effect.

Click here for more details and to enter the draw.

The British Business Network (BBN) has now been launched in New Zealand and is celebrating with an event in Auckland on 27 April.

BBN was launched as a UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) initiative to harness British diaspora in New Zealand with the key objective of increasing trade and investment between New Zealand and the UK. The Network has been operating successfully in Australia since July 2014 and now has over 400 members Australia wide.

In New Zealand, the Network already has over 50 members. Members are either British, working for a UK company or feel an affiliation with the UK and have committed to providing a small amount of their time to assisting UKTI. Members are encouraged to be involved in a number of ways including meeting with British companies when they arrive in New Zealand to discuss the business environment, providing leads or introductions to contacts who may need UKTI’s assistance and sharing their expertise and experience in specific areas relating to international trade and investment. Members can register their interest my contacting Brooke Silvers at BBN.Australia@mobile.ukti.gov.uk or by completing a registration form here.

A Taiwan Trade Mission is coming to New Zealand and holding an event at the Langham Hotel, Auckland on Monday, 16 May.

A delegation of 7 Taiwanese companies will be exhibiting and showcasing their latest innovative and finest products. You will be able to discuss one-on-one with the members of the trade mission to explore the business opportunities. More...

The Bay of Plenty ExportNZ Awards recognise the innovative, the brave and the successful - those companies that have helped grow and transform New Zealand and local economies with exceptional export success.

The most important ingredient for any awards ceremony is entries! If you are interested in entering, click here to read the Award Categories & Criteria.  Alternatively, if you know of a company or person who deserves recognition, click here to nominate them.

Important Dates:

• Award Entries Close:         5pm 6 May     
• Finalists Announced:         16 May        
• Judges Visit Finalists:        16 May to 3 June      
• Winners Announced:        24 June at the Bay of Plenty ExportNZ Awards, ASB Baypark Stadium Lounge, Truman Lane, Mt Maunganui.

For more information visit the dedicated Export Awards website.

The Customs Brokers and Freight Fowarders annual conference is taking place in Queenstown on 18-20 May. This is your opportunity to come together at the ONLY event of its kind held on an annual basis.

Keynote, Glyn Hughes, IATA Head of Cargo, is supported by a stellar line-up of industry leaders so make sure you don’t miss out on hearing the latest industry updates straight from the top. Register today!

NZ Hawaii Business Connections is taking a group of New Zealand exporters to the Hawaii Lodging, Hospitality and Food Service Expo, on 13 and 14 July 2016. This expo is a business and industry trade event and the group will represent everything good that New Zealand has to offer the US in terms of food, beverages, products and services.

What an opportunity for you to encourage trial and establish new customers in the lucrative Hawaii market. More...

For costs and more information, ring Robyn Bartram on +64 4 293 6369 or 0274 908 644, or email robyn@nzhawaii.com.

There are some great opportunities for improving your business through learnings at seminars, workshops and events. To see what's coming up, go to the ExportNZ home page and scroll down to see what's happening around the country.

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