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LANZBC & ExportNZ - Latin American market forum

Thu, 10 Mar, 2016 7:00 AM — 9:30 AM
Hamilton

The LANZBC / ExportNZ mini-roadshow got off to a great start with an early breakfast session in the City Co-op Function Room of SkyCity in Hamilton on 10 March. After croissants and coffee, over 30 attendees from 26 organisations sat down for an informative and entertaining seminar on the various intricacies of the Latin American market.

Craig Musson, Director of the LANZBC and Managing Director of the National Trade Academy, led the presentations with a general introduction to Latin America, noting that each country within the region was liable to fluctuations in accessibility depending on its Governments policies, advising that countries that had historically been in the ‘too hard’ category could quickly become much more feasible, with businesses needing to keep up with the changes in status in order not to miss out on opportunities available. Craig then discussed his own experiences with the National Trade Academy, with key messages supporting the use of in-market contacts such as local NZTE staff, Embassy staff and NZ expat’s working in-country, and the need to establish a relationship – over several visits - with partner organisations in order for any venture to succeed.

Geoff Furniss, Chief Executive of BBC Technologies provided a summary on BBC Technologies’ entry to Latin America, again stressing the importance of good relationships being the key to good business – noting that BBC Technologies had moved their Chilean headquarters four hours south of Santiago to Chillán, in order to be more accessible to their customers who were based in that region. Geoff promoted the use of local language as an invaluable tool, commenting that even basic Spanish had enabled him to get through various business dinners where neither party spoke the other’s language but had resulted in further developing the business relationship. Having local representatives – not agents - had also made BBC Technologies’ expansion in Latin America a more successful process.

Murray Vereker-Bindon, Director of LANZBC member LANZA International and Gallagher Mexico’s Trade Manager, then gave a lively presentation of his experiences in Mexico, commenting on the current state of the Mexican economy and the impact of the US Presidential campaign.

Julian Ramirez-Luna, General Manager of Shoof International Chile and native Colombian, wrapped up the seminar with an enlightening look at the similarities of the Chilean and Colombian markets and the appropriate business etiquette for both, also discussing the differences between the two countries and what New Zealand businesses needed to take into consideration when entering either market.

All in attendance thoroughly enjoyed the presentations and the LANZBC would like to thank each of the speakers for sharing their time and experiences, and Sharon Robertson of ExportNZ Waikato, for arranging the event and venue logistics.

 

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