THE FACTS
- Nine high-tech New Zealand businesses attended the Paris Air Show, highlighting opportunities in Europe.
- Europe is shifting focus from agriculture to high-tech, logistics, infrastructure, and digital sectors.
- The EU seeks stronger ties with Southeast Asia and the CPTPP, presenting growth opportunities.
At the recent Paris Air Show, there were nine New Zealand businesses attending. They were all high-tech companies offering products with both civilian and military applications.
Welcome to the new Europe.
Much of the noise around our historical commercial relationship with Europe has focused on access for our agricultural products. By contrast, the Europe we are now seeing emerge is a massive opportunity for our high-tech, logistics, infrastructure and digital sectors.
Over time, these sectors are likely to create more value for New Zealand than our legacy food offerings will. We need to pay attention to this change, or we risk becoming less influential in the Europe of the future.
© NZ Herald