What’s in New Zealand?

I was in Auckland, New Zealand early this month to attend the Hyundai Asia Pacific Conference and found this country almost at the bottom of the earth very interesting.

These conferences, attended by nearly 300 delegates of Hyundai distributors and dealers from 25 countries have been held in Guam, Thailand, Singapore, Turkey, Korea, and Malaysia, and will be in the Philippines in the coming years as the Philippines is becoming a big market for Hyundai vehicles. It was a four- to five-day conference which reviewed the Hyundai Motors Corporation performance in the region, to present and discuss the targets and strategies for the coming years. Half of the conference duration was spent touring the host city to allow the participants to interact or bond with each other while exploring the country. New Zealand was particularly intriguing as it is a developed western country that just happens to be located in the Asia-Pacific region.

New Zealand is almost halfway between Australia and Antarctica, about 1500 km. east of Australia. Due to its remoteness, it was one of the last islands to be inhabited. Its capital is Wellington but Auckland is the most developed and the most populated. In 2015, their total population was 4.5 million, which is just a million more than the province of Cebu, Philippines. Europeans comprise 74 percent of the population, 15 percent the native Maoris, and 11 percent Asians and other nationalities. It is sparsely populated given its large land area, with a population density of 45 persons per square mile, that’s why it is said that there are more sheep than people in New Zealand.

By economic measures, it is a developed economy with a 2015 nominal Gross Domestic Product, of $171 billion, which is half of the Philippines GDP of $370 billion. However, due to its small population, their per capita GDP is at $37,000 as against the Philippines $3,568 per capita GDP. Adjusted to Purchasing Power Parity the per capita GDP, New Zealanders $48,000 per person would still be six times the Philippines $7,846 per person. So the average New Zealander is six times as well off as the average Filipino. This is validated by the earnings of the lowest paid employee in New Zealand which translate to P1,000 a day as against the Philippines P200 a day. In peso terms, everything is expensive in New Zealand. Food is at least three or four times costlier, clothing is two to three times costlier, even transportation. But if you earn in New Zealand dollars, it is affordable. Taxes are very high as they have a socialized market economy that subsidizes healthcare, social security, and the indigenous people.

The New Zealand economy has gone through upheavals from 1991, then in the Asian crisis, then in the 2010 financial meltdown. It has since recovered and unemployment which had reached 10 percent is down to 5 percent in 2015. It is highly dependent on exports of agricultural products at 25 percent of its GDP. By 2007, dairy products overtook wool as their number one exports, so there are now as many cows as sheep in New Zealand. Dairy products now accounts for 25 percent of their exports. One NZ company, Fonterra actually controls one half of the international dairy business. Anchor, Anlene, and Annum milk products are some of their brands.  This is the company that one Filipino conglomerate was interested to be a stakeholder. Their other exports are meat, wine, timber, and seafood, so we had our fill of steaks, fish, lobsters, oysters, wine, and ice cream during our stay. I do not eat lamb, which my wife and children like, so I emailed them while I was there that, “since I do not eat lamb and kangaroo and llama meat smelled of lamb, I had to survive on lobsters and oysters for the first two days in Auckland.”

Auckland, NZ has a population of 1.5 million, similar to Metro Cebu. It has a higher proportion of Asians due to the presence of the universities with Asian students and the retail trade which are dominated by Asian shopkeepers. There are a number of Filipinos, most of them nurses but are hardly noticeable. When I inquired about Filipinos, it seems a lot of them are outside of the major cities due to the conditions of their employment contracts, and also to take advantage of the lower cost of living. Immigration to NZ is selective as they prefer skilled migrants in the area of healthcare, (doctors, nurses, therapists), IT professionals, engineers, and accountants. There is a shortage of construction workers in NZ but they also prefer European construction workers. Australia have the same immigration policies as NZ, so they compete for the same kind of skilled migrants, and Australia is more attractive due to its bigger economy and wider opportunities.

Tourism is the other major business in NZ. They got over three million tourists from all over the world in 2015 and have been increasing every year, especially with the “Middle Earth, Lord of the Rings” attractions. There are other tourist attractions like the Glowworms caves and the Geysers, but like the Middle Earth they are quite a distance from Auckland. The best way to see these sites is by a mobile home where you can just park near the sites instead of going back to the city.

The food is good everywhere in NZ and there are plenty of clear blue skies and wide open fields. The rivers and the streams outside the city are really clean and probably drinkable the farther away you are from the cities. There is also so much peace and quiet, that some people say, you can actually hear your thoughts. It may not be exactly the place for people who like to socialize all the time, or the hustle and bustle of crowds and friends, but it is a place to think about.

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