Recorded: Tue 19 Nov, 2024 in Wellington, NZ at Diplosphere HQ.
In this episode of the Diplosphere podcast, Stephen discusses his extensive career in trade and diplomacy. Stephen has been to every APEC forum in the past fifteen years, aside the one recently completed. Stephen’s roles have included serving at the NZ International Business Forum (NZIBF, Tradeworks), APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), New Zealand United States Council, the New Zealand China Council, and the ANZ Leadership Forum.
Stephen delves into the evolution of New Zealand's trade policies, challenges posed by rising protectionism, and the significance of independent decision making, and how there is no one “model” for our country. He touches on NZ at APEC, the importance of building wide ranging international relationships, and the impact of geopolitical tensions on New Zealand as an export-driven trading nation. The conversation also explores ambitious goals like doubling exports, a call for big ideas such as paperless trade & Southern Link, and maintaining independent foreign policy amidst global shifts.
00:00 Introduction and Career Overview
03:34 New Zealand's Trade Landscape
05:48 APEC and Global Trade
20:30 Big ideas - Southern Link
25:40 Economic Security and Trade Diversification
30:08 Independent Foreign Policy x International Trade
36:30 A call for Big Ideas (ex: Paperless Trade)
44:48 Climate Change and Challenges that see no Borders
47:09 A French Connection & Don't mention the Score (All Blacks v France)
Quotes:
“Not Having our Choices Restricted is a Key New Zealand Interest”
"Just doing what we’ve always done, is not going to get us where we want to be” [re: doubling exports and big ideas]
“The risk that we have in the world today is that we are so consumed by geopolitics and by security and by all of this inward looking stuff that we're forgetting the big challenges that are facing us as a society, which are the future of the planet.
Goodness me, the COP 29 is going on at the moment. Yes. With little sign of how this is going to be worked out and with a lot to do here in New Zealand to get our own house in order, by the way, that's a strong economic imperative. If we can get on the right side of that debate, that is gold for us in international markets.”
“We cannot rely on our allies always to do the right thing by us.”
"Never got ‘trade dividend’ from long support of Western alliance"
“We certainly can't teach them any lessons in rugby.” (on France NZ relations)
Links:
Address to the 55th One Stop Update for the Accountant in Business - Global Economic Update
Consolations of Insignificance: A New Zealand Diplomatic Memoir (book mentioned)
Don’t miss our next event on Wed 27 Nov with his Excellency Dr Wang Xiaolong, Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand: Register Here
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