NZ High Commissioner presentation

Speech notes - Airport and Airline 2008 Expo 18 March 2008

Special address
Rupert Holborow, High Commissioner of New Zealand to India
(10 minutes)

Good morning.

It is a pleasure to be here today to represent New Zealand at this aviation event. New Zealand was honoured when it was asked to be the official country partner for this year’s expo and I’m sure this partnership will add further to the positive relationship our two countries already share.

Today I would like to share with you some insights into New Zealand’s business world – some that might surprise you – and in particular, some insights into our capable and competitive aviation industry.

No doubt many of you are familiar at some level with New Zealand, perhaps mostly through India and New Zealand’s shared tradition of cricket – a tradition that one could argue is growing thanks to the upcoming influx of New Zealand players into India’s cricket league!

New Zealand has more to offer than Black Caps, however.

We are a small country – there are just over four million of us. We live at the southern edge of the Pacific, which is a long way from the major economies of the world.

We’re a young country – not much more than 160 years old. And we’re a country founded by migrants from many parts of the world including the Pacific, Europe and Asia. Our ancestors came to what, until quite recently, was rugged and unbroken land, determined to make better lives for themselves and their children.

When you put all of this together, it adds up to some characteristics that are special about New Zealanders – or Kiwis as we are often known:

• We have a reputation for finding practical solutions to problems. We call this our ‘can-do’ attitude. If a New Zealander doesn’t have the right tools to do the job, he or she will make them. Or think of a new way to get the job done.
  
• We have an entrepreneurial spirit – in fact, if you measure by the rate of business ownership, New Zealand is the most entrepreneurial country in the world;
  
• We’re innovative. You might expect us to excel at innovation in agriculture, and we do – we pioneered frozen shipments of meat and invented spreadable butter and just recently a New Zealand company has developed a cow that delivers low-fat milk.
• But you may not be aware that we also innovate in other fields. It was a New Zealander, Lord Rutherford, who split the atom. And another New Zealander co-discovered the building block of life, the double helix that makes up DNA.  When we won the America’s Cup yacht race more than once, it was as much due to our revolutionary new yacht designs as the talented sailing team and recently it was a New Zealander who created the world’s first three-dimensional picture book.

We’re a nation of New Thinkers.

To New Zealanders’ cultural attributes and attitudes, you can add an economic and political environment that makes New Zealand one of the best places in the world to do business.

Some of these advantages include:

• a stable and secure business environment
• low costs of doing business
• an efficient, market-oriented economy
• flexible immigration policies for investors and skilled managers
• a highly educated, flexible and multi-skilled workforce
• good science and R&D capability
• a great lifestyle.

More companies investing in New Zealand are confirming our country’s growing international reputation as a cost effective and high quality place to operate a global business.

Historically New Zealand’s value has been in its land, particularly in agriculture. Today, it lies increasingly in its value-added food and beverage sectors, creative industries, emerging technologies including biotechnology, and specialised manufacturing.

New Zealand’s aviation industry is a part of this – and is similarly in the process of transforming itself into an innovative industry.

Did you know that New Zealanders were some of the earliest users of commercial flights and the country was the first to import aircraft from international manufacturer Boeing early in the 20th century?

Now-a-days, high-grade aluminium from New Zealand is used on Airbus’s growing fleet of A380 jumbo jets.

Nine of the top 10 US aerospace and defence companies use 3D product graphics management systems designed by New Zealand software company Right Hemisphere.

And of course, our traditional strengths in agriculture have rubbed off on aviation – Pacific Aerospace’s PAC 750XL aircraft’s ability to take off and land on short airstrips has resulted in international demand for the plane from many quarters, including customers that have to deal with rougher airstrips.

New Zealand’s largest aviation companies – like Air New Zealand and Airwork New Zealand– have well established and broad international customer bases.

Their reputation for quality is helping smaller, specialised aviation providers in New Zealand to build new markets overseas.

New Zealand’s ability to offer specialised pilot training and education services to customers around the world is also increasingly recognised. This is particularly relevant to India, where growth in aviation services is creating demand for well-trained pilots.

New Zealand has a long history in providing top quality aviation training, and these services continue to grow as our culture of fresh thinking drives new approaches to providing them.

New Zealand offers a range of training services that cover the spectrum from pilot and crew training to maintenance engineer training. The industry is active in continuous training as well as in generating new professionals with new courses able to be developed to meet increased industrial demand.

For a relatively small land mass, New Zealand has uncluttered airspace while also being blessed with remarkably diverse geography. Our weather conditions can also be variable, meaning pilots trained in New Zealand are capable of handling diverse situations in the air.

We have a strong emphasis on safety – our Civil Aviation Authority is viewed as outstanding among its international peers – while our companies conform to both ISO and New Zealand Standards.

All of this is leading to an international reputation for our aviation industry that is based on quality and innovation, and a new industry body was recently launched to build on this further.

This expo marks Aviation New Zealand’s first outing on the international stage and I know it is pleased that India is its first audience.

Aviation New Zealand is working to ensure New Zealand’s aviation sector is using proven technologies as well as building on 21st Century innovation. Knowledge from the high performing marine, electronics and software sectors is expected to result in even better know-how within the industry.

One recent example of this industry cross-pollination is the launch of a fully aerobatic sports aircraft kit made up of about 20 structural components fabricated from advanced carbon composites. The Furio aircraft builds on expertise from the New Zealand’s marine industry and is expected to set the benchmark for high performance kitset aircraft.

This is but one of many exciting developments occurring in New Zealand’s aviation sector. I encourage you to learn more about what we have to offer by taking the time to visit the New Zealand stand at this event. Then I’d suggest following that up with a look at the Aviation New Zealand website – aviationnz.co.nz.

I’m sure you will find information and contacts at both that will lead to further insights into New Zealand’s offerings and hopefully future collaborations with us internationally.

Thank you

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