China relationships subject of business workshop

Export NZ Hawke’s Bay
Media Statement
Friday 24th March 2017

China relationships subject of business workshop

Building business relationships with China is the topic of a one-off workshop featuring trade experts to be held in Napier next Wednesday, April 5.

The interactive workshop is entitled ‘Distribution in China: Distributor Engagement and E-Commerce’ and will address the question of how to build fruitful relationships in that market. It is hosted by ExportNZ Hawke’s Bay.

Keynote speakers are Dr Ben Fath of the University of Auckland Business School, and independent consultant Paul O'Brien, a former adviser to Douglas Pharmaceuticals and CEO of EasiYo. He has two decades of experience selling to China. His companies have received three export awards and he has been a judge of the Auckland ExportNZ Awards for the past five years.

The workshop will include a session on cross-border e-commerce. Paul O'Brien will conduct a needs assessment of participants and a group work session on e-commerce in the China market. In advance of the workshop, participants will be given two short articles from the Harvard Business Review to prepare them for the interactive session.

ExportNZ Hawke’s Bay Executive Director Amanda Liddle said that in light of New Zealand’s ever-growing trade relationship with China, it was vital that businesses, whether they be already selling there or looking to do so, had the best market intelligence available, and the workshop would help with that.

“We all know good relationships are important for doing business in China but how we build them in that still largely unfamiliar market is one of the big questions, particularly for companies looking to break in.

“This workshop will go a long way to answering that by combining the first-hand knowledge of a seasoned operator in China with tools developed by University of Auckland Business School which use extensive research into New Zealand businesses' engagement with Asian markets.

“The workshop is aimed at SMEs intending to increase their commitment to China and will equip participants with practical tools to successfully navigate the challenge of forming partnerships and developing distribution arrangements in this challenging market.”

The workshop is from 3pm-6pm at Hawke’s Bay Business Hub.

ends

© Scoop Media