Forbes: 'I absolutely appreciate the line of questioning, but...'
Then Southland Business Chamber Carla Forbes was part of a council-funded Invercargill delegation that headed to China in 2017 and signed an MOU with Suqian.
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Invercargill City Councillor Ian Pottinger this week raised questions around just what has transpired since a Business Memorandum of Understanding was signed with sister city Suqian in China in 2017.
The council sent a delegation to Suqian where the MOU was signed.
It appears many of the proposed actions from the MOU haven’t happened which prompted Pottinger to raise the question.
Although others have suggested it’s hard to gauge the benefits of such an MOU and it was better to have it in place than not.
Then Southland Business Chamber president Carla Forbes was part of that Invercargill delegation that headed to China in 2017.
Forbes - along with then Venture Southland CEO Paul Casson and then Deputy Mayor Rebecca Amundsen - signed the MOU on behalf of Invercargill.
Close to seven years on Forbes offers her thoughts on the matter in her own words:
As the former Chair of the Southland Business Chamber, I am speaking not on behalf of the Southland Business Chamber but from my experience.
Given Southland's substantial exports to China, it's crucial for us as a community and as a business community to signal our openness and engagement. I think it is important to acknowledge the value of cultivating these connections beyond just our sister city relationship, demonstrating a genuine interest in fostering positive and meaningful engagements with China.
While it's understandable that there may be questions about quantifying the benefits of these relationships, especially in terms of direct correlation, it's important to consider the broader impact. Our efforts to strengthen ties with China can yield significant benefits for independent businesses, facilitating smoother trade and opening up new avenues for collaboration. Ask any exporter that exports to China they’ll quickly advise relationships are very important. As an export region – I think it is the least we can do.
I absolutely appreciate the line of questioning, but while the direct correlation between independent business relationships and political ties with China may be challenging to measure, the evidence suggests that fostering such connections is advantageous. For a region where China is a key trading partner doing what we can to support a good relationship doesn’t seem like much to ask. Sure, establishing a sister city relationship is hard to measure the direct correlation with either export or tourism. But I think the benefit certainly outweighs the cost – it in my opinion is prudent to foster a sister city relationship with a nation that absorbs an estimated 30% of our exports.
It is also worth noting that China maintains its position as New Zealand's primary trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $40.31 billion in the year ending December 2022 (source: https://statisticsnz.shinyapps.io/trade_dashboard/
Cutting off these relationships would not only undermine the progress we've made but also hinder potential future opportunities for Southland businesses.
Carla Forbes stated.... I think the benefit certainly outweighs the cost. Maybe it does but unfortunately there was little detail about those benefits. What were the outcomes of the investment i.e. what changed as a result from all the energy and money spent.
Fostering connections is advantageous apparently, but what were the advantages to Invercargill
What came of the mou
The sheep milk plant is china own
BONZ is owned by Chinese interests and skins are sent to China processed sent back to invercargill processed and sent back to China
We add value .
There are other things that happened too
Some one do the research