Items filtered by date: Tuesday, 02 December 2014

Wellington, 2 June 2016 - New Zealand’s exports to the United States (US) increased for the sixth consecutive March year in 2016, Statistics New Zealand said today. This earned New Zealand $2.8 billion more in 2016 than in 2010.

Trade with the US earned us $444 million more from exports than we spent on imports for the March 2016 year. New Zealand earned $8.4 billion from exports to the US while our import expenditure to that country was $7.9 billion. Our total exports to the US made it our fourth-largest export destination in the latest year.

In the March 2016 year, meat and edible offal was New Zealand’s top export commodity to the US, earning $1.8 billion. This compares with $1.1 billion in the March 2014 year.

“New Zealand had record beef exports to the US through the middle of 2015 and this strength has resulted in a 55 percent increase over the past two years,” international statistics senior manager Nicola Growden said. “Beef contributed 81 percent of meat exports to the US in the latest year.”

Spending by US visitors to New Zealand ($1.0 billion) was our second-largest export earner from the US. Together, meat and travel contributed over one-third of New Zealand’s total exports to the US in the March 2016 year.

Despite a $49 million fall in expenditure on imports from the US in the March 2016 year, it is our fourth-largest import source (unchanged from the March 2015 year). Mechanical machinery and equipment ($1.3 billion), including turbo jet and propeller parts, was our largest import expense from the US, followed by aircraft and parts ($1.1 billion).

New Zealand’s trade with the rest of the world recorded a surplus for the March 2016 year. We earned $2.9 billion more from exports than we spent on imports. Total exports of goods and services for the year ended March 2016 totalled $69.8 billion, while imports totalled $66.9 billion.

New Zealand recorded trade surpluses with 16 of our top 25 trading partners in the March 2016 year, including the US. New Zealand's top three trade surpluses in the latest year were with Australia, China, and the US.

A press release from Statistics New Zealand June 2, 2016

Modernist Auckland marina milk building already showing signs of being a relic of a Lost Civilisation

Auckland, Wednesday 1 June 2016 – A new Kiwi technology hub which opens in Ho Chi Minh City next Monday marks the start of a bright new era in New Zealand and Vietnam tech trade connections.

The Kiwi Connection centre at Quang Trung Software City will be the gateway for delivering Kiwi technology in Vietnam, according to Augen, one of New Zealand’s leading tech firms with strong Vietnamese connections.

“The concept tech hub is to support New Zealand ICT and hi-tech companies investing in and doing business in Vietnam, as well as across the wider ASEAN region,” Augen Software Group director Mitchell Pham says.

“This landmark new development has been headed by us since we were the first New Zealand company to win the prestigious Vietnam IT Excellence award last year. Orion Health, insurance technology company HealthTech and manufacturing technology company Shapeshifter are the first Kiwi companies to join us at Vietnam’s largest software park site.

“We have also been well supported along the way by New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, NZTech, NZ Health IT, NZ Software Association, Auckland Tourism, Events & Economic Development and Grow Wellington.

“Technology is playing an increasingly important role in New Zealand and Vietnam’s trade growth stories. Vietnam’s ICT market is expected to be a major regional performer over the next four years due to strong growth dynamics and reputation as an outsourcing destination, while New Zealand’s technology sector grew to more than $6.5 billion dollars last year.

“Vietnam’s digital economy is the largest and fastest-growing among all the Southeast Asian nations, and the country is New Zealand’s fastest growing export market in the region. It represents a growing opportunity – one that’s only just beginning to dawn on Kiwi firms.

“As Vietnam’s economy continues to grow, opportunities come from not just the expanding middle class income group and overall consumer appetite for goods and services, but also the fact that all sectors are growing and increasingly engaging and competing internationally. There is a huge opportunity in helping Vietnam’s industry sectors advance with knowledge, IP and technology that we have in New Zealand.

“Vietnam scores higher in numeracy, literacy and science than the US and UK, and almost 60 percent of the 94 million-plus population are under 30 years old. According to the BBC, Vietnam is already one of Google’s top 10 growth markets, and could be the next Silicon Valley. In 2015 there were 40 million internet connections there and 30 million smartphone users. This represents many opportunities for Kiwi ICT and hi-tech businesses.”

Viet Nam is New Zealand’s fastest growing trade market in Southeast Asia, with merchandise exports doubling since 2007. The opening of the tech hub next Monday is part of a programme of events celebrating business and tourism links between New Zealand and Vietnam. The first direct Air New Zealand flight between Auckland and Ho Chi Minh City starts this Saturday.

Foreign investment in Vietnam has driven major global tech firms Samsung, LG Electronics, Intel, Nokia and Fuji Xerox to set up new production plants in Vietnam as opposed to China. In the digital mobile space, a total of 40 percent of all apps on Microsoft’s App Store globally are engineered in Vietnam.

New Zealand’s Consul General and Trade Commissioner to Vietnam Tony Martin says New Zealand has a reputation as an innovative and flexible technology market.

“Our companies are leading the world in a number of market sectors such wireless infrastructure, health IT, transport and logistics technologies, digital content, geospatial, and telecommunications.

“We look forward to welcoming more New Zealand technology companies into the Kiwi Connection hub and meeting with businesses from around the region looking to utilise New Zealand technology products and services from within ASEAN,” Martin says.

A Make Lemonade positive New Zealand News press release

Glazing film coating confers cost –effective temperature control plus safety-at-work benefits

Never underestimate the seemingly most trivial episode because lawyers wont

Hackers target builders’ accounts - An Auckland woman, tricked into paying thousands into the wrong bank account, doesn’t know whether she’ll get her money back and wants to warn others about the elaborate ruse.

The woman, a Consumer member who doesn’t want to be named, thought she was paying $14,000 into her builder’s bank account through internet banking. However, the builder’s email had been hacked and an invoice sent with an altered account number. When the money didn’t show up in the builder’s account, it sounded alarm bells.

The woman contacted her bank, ANZ, but by then — just two days later — the money was gone. Nearly a month later, our member is still waiting to hear the results of police and ANZ investigations into the incident.

ANZ said it’s aware this type of scam is targeting the building industry and had previously alerted bank staff after its fraud team had flagged the problem. But a security alert was only posted on the bank’s website in May.

Another Consumer member had a similar experience last year. Her builder’s email account was hacked, a false invoice sent and her payments diverted to the wrong account. Her bank, Kiwibank, made a goodwill payment of $3300, half the amount she’d lost.

If you think you’ve been a victim of this scam, report it to the police and your bank immediately. We think banks also need to be proactive in alerting customers to these scams.

A ConsumerNZ press release Friday 27 May 2016

Friday May 27 - Air New Zealand is working with Christchurch-based robotics company Invert Robotics to trial wall climbing, camera mounted robots to carry out remote inspections on its aircraft.

The technology, originally designed for use in the dairy industry, uses remote-controlled inspection equipment to detect damage inside milk tanks beaming back high resolution footage in real time.

Air New Zealand Chief Operations Officer Bruce Parton says the airline first started to explore the use of robotics after recognising the shape of a milk tank closely resembles an aircraft fuselage.

“Currently to inspect the top of the fuselage, as we do following incidents such as lightning strikes, engineers need to work at heights of up to eight metres.

“Using technology that can identify defects not immediately visible to the human eye and do so from the ground has the potential to make aircraft maintenance safer and more reliable.

“Exploring the introduction of robotic technologies supports the airline’s innovation strategy and if we can help pioneer an aviation application for this technology it could create a significant new commercial opportunity for this home grown Kiwi business.”

Invert Robotics Chief Executive Officer James Robertson says it’s hugely exciting to be working collaboratively with Air New Zealand on this project.

“While initially designed as a dairy solution our patented robot has proven versatile lending itself well to aircraft deployment.

“We look forward to continuing to work with Air New Zealand to develop the airline application for this technology so that it can potentially be rolled out across the global aviation industry.”

An Air New Zealand press release Friday 27 May 2016

A2K Technologies May 25, 2016 Industry  Collections - The way you design and build is changing rapidly, which also changes the tools you use and the ways companies and individuals buy and access software. Autodesk is introducing Industry Collections as a way of delivering on their promise to offer greater value, more flexibility, and a simplified customer experience.

Autodesk Industry Collections will offer the most convenient and flexible way to access a wide selection of the most essential Autodesk software used in your industry, with the choice of monthly, quarterly, annual or multi-year term lengths and single- or multi-user access to fit your evolving business needs. These curated collections will be available for AEC, MFG, and M&E industries starting on August 1 2016.

Click here to read the article and gather more information about the A2K Technologies Autodesk Industry collections

Read the Budget 2016 overview released by Bill English here