It's that time of year again! Yes, Awards season is upon us and there are some fabulous, inspirational exporters in our awards in Auckland, the Bay of Plenty and Hawke's Bay.

The Auckland winners have just been announced, while the Bay of Plenty awards are taking place on Friday 26 June, and the Hawke's Bay awards take place on 30 July - entries close at 5pm on 2 July!

Taking part is all about recognising, appreciating and celebrating our Kiwi ingenuity, persistence and successes. They also serve as a great source of inspiration. See below for more details on our regional awards.

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

In this month's Trade Update I look at the TPP and the politics behind the hold up in the USA. 

Congress has voted to delay a final vote on President Obama¹s negotiating authority until 30 July. This delay is probably positive as it gives the Administration more time to try and achieve a positive outcome.  But there is no guarantee of success.  And even if the Bill passes, there is now not much time to get TPP finalised and ratified before US politics goes into Presidential election mode.

Luckily New Zealand does not have all its eggs in the TPP basket.  Good progress is being made in associating New Zealand with the Pacific Alliance. More... 

International success is a challenging journey but one that's extremely satisfying. The ExportNZ ASB Hawke's Bay Export Awards are a great opportunity to celebrate those businesses who are winning on a global level.

The most important ingredient for any awards night is entries! Click here to see this year's categories and decide which award/s you want to enter. Alternatively if you know of a company or person who deserves recognition, then let us know. More...

Congratulations to all winners of this year’s Air NZ Cargo ExportNZ Awards Auckland - announced at a gala dinner at the Langham Hotel on 18 June.

The winners - along with the Supreme Award winner, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, and the 2015 Exporters Champion (for exemplary services to export), Sir George Fistonich - were selected from 25 finalists in seven categories. They traversed the widest range of New Zealand enterprise, from home brew, robots, marine winches and self-service payment systems. More...

ExportNZ, in partnership with the ASEAN NZ Business Council, is planning a trade mission to Malaysia and Singapore, 23 – 28 August, 2015.

The trade mission will visit Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru and Singapore.our Trade Mission in August this year will travel to Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru and Singapore.

The programme embraces a judicious mix of “plenary” door-opening briefings with senior local officials, site visits, sector activities and a concentration on individual business matching as required by delegates. More...

Expressions of interest are now being taken. Contact cbeard@exportnz.org.nz

Fifteen young firms have raised a total of $8.7 million through three equity crowdfunding platforms since the low-strings fund-raising mechanism got the green light from regulators last year.

The sum may be small compared to the $55m that well-heeled "angel investors" pumped into high-growth businesses last year and to the $4.7b bigger businesses raised through the NZX stock exchange in 2014.

Equity crowdfunding lets companies raise up to $2m a year from selling shares to the public, without requiring they issue a full-blown prospectus and comply with other red tape. More...

2015 is set to be a defining moment for Southeast Asian economies as the deadline for the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) looms.  Given the great range of diversity in economic development, political systems, cultures and religions, many are wondering if the regions can actually be integrated into a unified economy. More...

The recent announcement by Customs Minister Nicky Wagner that extra Budget funding is being provided for Customs to help exporters is great news.

Executive Director Catherine Beard said, "ExportNZ provides regular feedback to officials about the barriers to exporting and getting through Customs. This issue comes up with China time and time again in our annual exporter survey. More...

John Roberts of Veda International had a very clear mandate to grow Veda's footprint beyond Australia & New Zealand as a leading credit information & analytics business and export its successful credit bureau software technology into emerging markets.

Here's the story of how he led Veda to establish Credit Bureau Cambodia and grew enquiry volumes to 14,000 per day, before setting up a consultancy which now assists New Zealand companies to develop into export markets in Asia & the Middle East. More...

Is your business fully earthquake-ready?

The Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management (MCDEM) has teamed up with the New Zealand Fire Service, Kestrel Group, GNS Science and the EQC, to help businesses plan what to do after an earthquake.

The newly updated advice aims to help businesses be more aware of earthquake risks, better prepared to mitigate them, and more resilient.

'Drop, cover and hold' is reinforced, but it's also important to stay indoors until the shaking stops. Research shows that people moving as little as three metres during an earthquake are more likely to be injured by flying furniture, fixtures or debris. You also need to have a specific assembly point for earthquakes.

All the advice you need is available here.

Interesting opinion editorial on what Daniel King says should be a wake-up call to Kiwi businesses.

Bribery and corruption risks are a serious threat, according to a recent Deloitte survey of Australian and New Zealand companies and organisations.

It should be a wake-up call for organisations. While this is especially the case for those operating in overseas markets, a surprising result was the high proportion of respondents who had experienced bribery and corruption in domestic markets. More...

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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