Enabling international commerce: NZIIA Conference Session 2023

Moderator – Charlie Gao, Director, North Asia Centre of Asia-Pacific Excellence HE Nina Obermaier, Ambassador of the EU to New Zealand Sarah Salmond, Partner at MinterEllisonRuddWatts Natasha Hamilton-Hart , Director of the New Zealand Asia Institute and Professor in the Department of Management and International Business, University of Auckland Business School The 2020 COVID 19 Pandemic disrupted the entire world economy, international relations and the daily lives of virtually everyone on the planet. Global GDP contracted by 20 percent in a matter of weeks, supply chains were ripped asunder and, three and half years since the Pandemic started, the effects are still with us. As an open trading nation reliant on export industries, New Zealand’s economy has been deeply affected. Efforts to reconnect New Zealand businesses with world markets seem to be hampered by great power competition and Bloc formation, trade protection, inflation and problems afflicting multilateral institutions such as the World Trade Organisation. In the face of such challenges, what can New Zealand Inc do to reconnect with the world, in an economic sense? Our expert panel investigates.