Stephen Jacobi, NZIBF Executive Director, speaks to the Confederation of Indian Industry Partnership Summit in New Delhi about The Future of Multilateralism.
TradeWindow: Digital trade provides hope through challenging times

It won’t come as a surprise to many people to hear that we remain in a very challenging situation when it comes to global business. Our exporters are operating in an environment that is difficult to navigate due to continuing uncertainties – the seemingly endless pandemic and the war in Ukraine are causing all manner of increasing geopolitical tensions, energy shortages and food insecurity around the world.
Because of ongoing supply chain disruptions, we are continuing to experience expensive shipping costs, delays at ports and import shortages of certain materials and goods. When you add global inflation to the mix, it’s no wonder that havoc is being wreaked across our global markets.
This perfect storm has been on the horizon for a number of years, brought somewhat forward by the Covid-19 pandemic. And although trade has still performed strongly for New Zealand over last few years, volumes are now starting to dip due to labour shortages – despite values holding up reasonably well given strong commodity prices.
The good news is that it’s not 2020, which is to say we’re not back at square one like we were at the beginning of the pandemic. We’ve learned a lot since then, with governments realising they must take effective action to address some of the lingering economic problems. As a result, we are likely to see better policies flowing through and fewer knee-jerk or even protectionist reactions that make things worse. Despite the well-evidenced supply chain disruptions, we are also seeing proof that exporters with strong relationships can continue to do business effectively.
While we haven’t yet been able to break through protectionism in some overseas dairy and meat markets, as the recently negotiated NZ EU free trade agreement shows, other FTAs in both New Zealand and Australia are beginning to open up new and exciting markets, while also signalling significant investment into new arrangements to provide better frameworks for digital trade. New Zealand is pursuing this through the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), which is attracting interest around the region, and Australia through new and ground-breaking agreements it is forging with Singapore and others.
At their best FTAs can open previously closed markets and keep them open, while putting in place effective rules which allow trade to flow freely and minimise compliance costs, outcomes which are of vital interest to the Australasian region as a whole, but a lot depends on implementation.
One of the key elements of the digital economy, which will have the greatest impact on trade, is the implementation of end-to-end secure and trusted paperless trade. While universal adoption of this is still far off, a start has been made. Reducing the vast amount of paper documents is not only good for the environment, it can reduce costs and assist in moving goods more quickly through supply chains.
To have our world economies work together in this way will require regulatory and legislative changes being made first to our own systems. To date this has been somewhat disjointed and further implementation is needed to make it work seamlessly, but we are getting there.
There is hope on the horizon amidst what has turned out to be an immensely challenging time for players in the import, export, and logistics industries. If we can move the agenda for digitalisation forward at pace, we may be able to cushion industries from future global supply chain shocks similar to those that have been experienced in recent times.
This post was originally published by TradeWindow, and written by Stephen Jacobi – Managing Director, Jacobi Consulting Limited and Executive Director, NZ International Business Forum Inc.
REGISTER WITH TRADE WORKS
Register to stay up to date with latest news, as well as saving and discussing articles you’re interested in.
Latest News
Remarks to Confederation of Indian Industry Partnership Summit, New Delhi, 15 March 2023
"The Future of Multilateralism" by Stephen Jacobi, NZIBF Executive Director Namaskar Tēnā koutou katoa – greetings to you all in the language of the Māori people of Aotearoa New Zealand. It is an honour for me to speak to such a distinguished gathering today....
AMIDST THE STORM: ABAC MEETS IN AUCKLAND
Perhaps a cyclone was after all a fitting backdrop for the meeting of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) which was held in Auckland on 12-14 February – the global environment against which the meeting took place is decidedly stormy. In the event the wind...
Asia-Pacific business leaders call for action on climate and economic inclusion
APEC NEWS RELEASE Issued by The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Auckland, 14 February 2023 - Members of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) met in Auckland, New Zealand this week to develop a work plan that calls on policymakers to leverage trade and...
ASIA-PACIFIC BUSINESS LEADERS GATHERING IN AUCKLAND, 12-14 FEBRUARY 2023
Media Release - 8 February 2023 Equity, sustainability and opportunity are key themes of one of the largest gatherings of senior Asia-Pacific business leaders held in New Zealand for some time. The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) is due to meet in Tāmaki...
A YEAR FOR RECONNECTING
As I write this end of year dispatch, NZIBF is preparing to host the first meeting for 2023 of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). We are looking forward to welcoming the 200 or so business leaders and senior officials from APEC member economies across the...
MAJOR GATHERING OF ASIA-PACIFIC BUSINESS LEADERS TO BE HELD IN AUCKLAND, 12-14 FEBRUARY 2023
Media Release - 14 December 2022 Sustainability, digitalisation and resilient, inclusive trade will be key themes of a major gathering of senior Asia-Pacific business leaders to be held in Auckland early next year – the first such event to be held in New Zealand...
NZ Herald: Time to lift our game in India
Following his recent visit to India our Executive Director Stephen Jacobi penned this article advocating a more strategic approach to the further development of the relationship. The article was published by the NZ Herald on 9 December.
APEC Rolls out Priorities for 2023
Issued by the Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting - Honolulu, The United States, 13 December 2022 Aiming to provide tailwinds for member economies to strengthen recovery and resilience, as well as advance broad-based economic growth, the United States rolled out its...
NZIBF 2022 Chair Report
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2022 CHAIR’S REPORT I am pleased to present my second report on the activities and achievements of the NZ International Business Forum (NZIBF) for 2022-23, our fifteenth year of operations. At the outset I would like to thank Members for...
APEC Leaders Issue 2022 Declaration and the Bangkok Goals on the Bio-Circular-Green Economy
Issued by the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting Bangkok, Thailand, 19 November 2022 The Leaders of the 21 APEC member economies issued the 2022 Leaders’ Declaration following the 29th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting chaired by the Prime Minister of Thailand,...
NZ BUSINESS LEADERS AT APEC 2022
New Zealand business will be represented at the APEC Leaders’ Week in Bangkok, commencing 13 November, by members of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). New Zealand’s three members – Rachel Taulelei, Malcolm Johns and Anna Curzon – supported by Stephen Jacobi...
Submission to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Re-Development of the Framework for Integrating Labour Standards and Trade Agreements
Submission by NZIBF – October 2022 This submission is made on behalf of the NZ International Business Forum (NZIBF), whose members are listed at Annex A[1]. NZIBF is a forum of senior business leaders working together to promote New Zealand’s engagement in the global...
Address to the 51st One Stop Update for The Accountant In Business, 25 October 2022
ADDRESS TO THE 51st ONE STOP UPDATE FOR THE ACCOUNTANT IN BUSINESS AUCKLAND, 25 OCTOBER 2022 STEPHEN JACOBI EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NZ INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS FORUM GLOBAL ECONOMIC UPDATE Thanks to Brightstar for inviting me back to address this conference once again. When...
Submission to MPI on Modernising Our Export Assurances Systems: Legislative Options
Submission by Export NZ and NZIBF - 29 September 2022 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Export New Zealand (ExportNZ) and the New Zealand International Business Forum (NZIBF) welcome the opportunity to comment on the Ministry for Primary Industries’ (MPI) Modernising Our Export...
Submission to MFAT for CPTPP Review
30 September 2022 Phil Mellor Economic Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Wellington (By email) Dear Phil, Thank you for your email of 1 September, seeking our comments on the three year review of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans...