Daly said since then, there had been “very significant” interest from German companies to invest in New Zealand.
“Germany is New Zealand’s fastest-growing export partner: We have seen a 46% increase in trade from New Zealand to Germany in the first 10 months of the European Union-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement going live.”
German Deputy Ambassador to New Zealand Winnie Switakowski said German companies perceived New Zealand as a secure place to do business with.
“For Germany, New Zealand is a strong and trusted like-minded partner. The EU-NZ Free Trade Agreement provides additional reliability.”
Head of the German delegation to Fieldays, Olaf Schafer, agreed.
“New Zealand is a very important partner for Germany,” he said.
“New Zealand has a very stable economy and works on an extremely high level in the field of bio-economy – it’s gold standard.
“There are also lots of similarities in our agriculture, especially regarding the climate and ecological sustainability.
“That’s what makes the exchange with New Zealand so rewarding.”
Important connections formed
Daly said having a presence with the German Pavilion at Fieldays had been “a great profiling piece” for German businesses.
“All of these companies [exhibiting in the pavilion] were small to medium-size enterprises which normally don’t have the budget to do this,” she said.
“If you put them all together under the pavilion, it gives them instant brand recognition.
“It also de-risked their market entry by getting them connected to the right people straight away.”
Relationships were made on both ends, Daly said, with the team connecting German businesses to the New Zealand market, and New Zealand businesses to the German market.
IFWexpo Heidelberg project manager Gabor Nemet said it had taken four years to get the German Pavilion at Fieldays across the line and now that it happened, the feedback couldn’t be better.
“The German exhibitors appreciate the opportunity to understand the New Zealand market better.
“A lot of them even said after one day at Fieldays, they had better and more in-depth conversations with potential clients than they had after five days on some European expos.”
Among the 11 German exhibitors in the pavilion was soil and substrate company Floragard.
Jonathan Kroiss, Floragard’s sales manager for Asia/Pacific, said the company would usually participate in gardening-specific expos, but Fieldays had a broader clientele.
“We wanted to find out if there is a market for our products in New Zealand … It’s a comparably small market, but it’s all part of a puzzle,” he said.
“There are very interesting trade partners in New Zealand and we were able to make a couple of connections … The conversations I had were very interesting and highly technical. The people in the field are competent and well-educated.
“We hope to be able to enter the market here soon.”
Germany Trade & Invest research analyst ANZ Carola Gilbert was also full of praise for Fieldays and the German Pavilion.
“I was especially impressed by the Innovation Hub and the conversations with businesses on the ground.
“It was a pleasure to present the opportunities that the German market offers … and I look forward to further connecting with people and businesses.”
Fieldays impresses
Switakowski said for the German representatives, the concept of Fieldays was unique.
“MPs, CEOs, the economy, politics and the customers all come together. This is a unique opportunity to do business.”
The “uniqueness” of Fieldays was also acknowledged by Schäfer.
“I am impressed, especially by the start-up scene and I take home a lot of interesting ideas, including in the areas of innovation and upscaling.
“For a lot of New Zealand businesses the question is not ‘How do we get results from scientific research’, but ‘How can we make the research results practicable’.”
The pavilion had also been successful from a visitor perspective, Switakowski said.
“Lots of people visited the pavilion and told us that they went for a holiday to Germany or that they learned German in high school.
“It was an exchange of lots of little stories of German-New Zealand connections.”
- The interviews were conducted partly in German, with translation provided by the reporter.
Danielle Zollickhofer is the Waikato news director and a multimedia journalist. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.