Representing NZ businesses in Asia
SARAH Ottrey has done a lot of interesting things in her career but being part of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s business delegation to South East Asia rates ‘‘up in the top few’’.
The Queenstownbased professional director was there in her capacity as chairwoman of Christchurch Airport and a director of Skyline Enterprises. It was her first trade mission. Being issued with a Silver Fern to wear, prior to boarding the RNZAF Boeing 757 at Auckland’s Whenuapai air base, was also a key moment — ‘‘because you’re representing your country’’.
The trade mission visited Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, with Mr Luxon saying the three countries were critical to the government’s ambition to diversify trade and drive up exports. Members of the business delegation, which also included Otago’s Grant Cochrane, chief executive of Oritain, were encouraged by Mr Luxon to embrace those opportunities. There was ‘‘no room for observers’’ on the fiveday trip, that expectation being laid out by Mr Luxon in his first briefing. ‘‘You don’t go on these missions without having a purpose,’’ Ms Ottrey said.
Once that challenge was set down, the five days were spent thinking about where those opportunities were and that was super motivating for all the delegates.
For Ms Ottrey, the work day went from 5.30am to 10pm ‘‘with not even an opportunity to draw breath’’ but that did not daunt her. While she could have used more time, in some ways that was not necessary as, by condensing the trip, ‘‘you have to work harder at it’’.
‘‘The expectation that you’re here to work and those are messages that, as a business, you do want to hear. We are working hard and we are delivering for our shareholders and customers, I’m OK with that.’’
She also had a lot of respect for the energy and work ethic of Mr Luxon, saying it was considerable. She was also very encouraged by the opportunity for growth in South East Asia.
It was not just a matter of being there to write more business, it was about creating relationships to open more doors to do more business. From the airport point of view, it was about expanding the freight business and logistics and getting greater connectivity into Christchurch.
At Skyline, the company was building adventureleisure luge parks through Asia and she saw ‘‘a whole lot of opportunity’’, not just for Skyline but for also sharing New Zealand’s tourism expertise and knowledge in a way that those countries could develop their own tourism offering.
Interest in Skyline’s luge developments was high and there were immediate opportunities there. Already Skyline had people planning to head to Asia and they would add in those connections.
The timeframe from generation of an idea or opportunity to actual implementation was in the five to 10year range. Lots of invitations were given to look at potential sites but often those sites were not right for a park, but they still needed to be looked at.
There were also opportunities to learn from delegates from other sectors. One example was a business which made sustainable concrete from volcanic ash. At Christchurch Airport, a lot of concrete was used and that was potentially a product it should be investing in.
‘‘You learn from each other. For me, that was equal with opportunities for export and knowledge sharing etc. What we can do within the whole group . . . that was quite inspiring.’’ Christchurch Airport was recognised as a worldleader in airport decarbonisation. It was 95% decarbonised for scope 1 and 2 emissions and that was a ‘‘dream’’ for airports in Asia so the ability to share was a real opportunity.
New Zealand had a natural advantage because it had renewable energy. One of the big reduction factors for Christchurch Airport was how it heated and cooled its building using groundsource water which used less energy. That was an innovation of Beca in Christchurch and should be used elsewhere, she said. Airline connectivity to South East Asia was still not back to preCovid levels and there was a real opportunity for the airport to think about how to help with that. That was an immediate opportunity for the South. While it was outside her own brief, although an area she was very familiar with, Ms Ottrey said New Zealand’s reputation as an agriculture and agritech leader was another area with a lot of opportunity.
The countries the mission visited had rapidly growing populations that needed feeding. New Zealand was not just about exporting food but understanding how to use its technology and processes could be commercialised.
She was delighted to hear Mr Luxon tell an audience of 200 in Singapore that New Zealand had the best farmers in the world, along with some of the best scientists and innovation.
It was a privilege to attend a government strategy team meeting in Singapore and hear about its longterm planning which was all about what shocks were coming, what the opportunities were and how to make a resilient and prosperous country, given it was an island.
‘‘It did bring home to me how we need to raise our eyes up and think about 10, 20, 30 years out and decisions we make as business leaders now are not necessarily about tomorrow [but] about what we can do which make the future a better place,’’ Ms Ottrey said.
That was a challenge for both businesses and New Zealand as a whole. For the likes of Christchurch Airport, that was about infrastructure, she said.
The bloc collectively represented the world’s fifth largest economy and it would become the fourth within 20 to 30 years, passing Europe and Japan. It was on New Zealand to engage and make the most of that opportunity. A strong and prosperous relationship with South East Asia could only be good for New Zealand, she said. Ms Ottrey is also chairwoman of the board of Whitestone Cheese and a director of Mt Cook Alpine Salmon and said there was a lot of interest and appreciation of those brands, both from fellow delegates and also the countries that knew about premium foods.
sally.rae@odt.co.nz
❛ You don’t go on these missions without having a purpose