COMPERE: Established by NZTE, New Zealand Focus is one of a number of initiatives we have planned to help New Zealand businesses maximise export opportunities in Hong Kong, China, and North Asia. It's a retail and information centre offering a vast range of resources about New Zealand, from trade, lifestyle and education, to travel and emigration.
WENDY YUEN: The ground floor section is our retail section. And we showcase and retail different New Zealand products, which are new to the markets. This is a very helpful stepping stone to any new New Zealand companies who want to step into the Hong Kong market.
Since we opened, we have launched over 1500 new products to the market. On level two, we have an education area, which displays many different New Zealand education schools, and we display the brochures, and we have a few more partners here.
On the third level, we have an event venue, which can organise many different kinds of functions.
ROD MCKENZIE: Over 300,000 people have visited this store and this facility in the first three years it was going. Now that, I think, is a very pleasing number. The sales have been very pleasing as well. They're more or less within the targets that we set. And a good number of companies have actually managed to find ongoing distribution in this market.
The most important thing about the future for New Zealand Focus is that when we started this initiative, we set up a quite unique private-public sector partnership. And the intention has always been that over a period of time, the private sector partner would pick up the New Zealand Focus concept and move with it. Now we're already starting to see that with the current retailer here. They have opened a New Zealand Focus store in Guangzhou. And they've made it very clear to us that they're very interested in taking the New Zealand Focus concept centre idea to other locations in Hong Kong and in southern China.
SHARON-MAY MCCROSTIE: Having a presence here is seen as a sign of endorsement of your brand. And many of the leading European and American retailers have their flagship stores here.
So in that respect, it's an ideal market entry option. And the companies can come in, build experience, establish branch connections before they look at expanding wider in China and Asia.
RONNIE BUTT: Hong Kong is a rather important window for us to showcase our brand to mainland Chinese customers. This is also a great location to interview, to host media, and also target trade customers. It's a very good place for them to experience the essence of our brand.
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