Shayne Blake in the Listener

Shayne Blake was reported in the Listener in October. In a feature by Julie Middleton, Shayne highlighted the urgent need for New Zealand to seize the Indian opportunity.

From the article:

Think of India, and what instantly comes to mind? Chaos, pollution, beggars, weird and fervent religious practices, “Delhi belly”, colourful saris and terrorism. The adjectives: dirty, crowded, freaky, dangerous. Change the frame: how about an urbanised, educated middle class of 300 million buying Levi’s jeans by the truckload and splurging on eating out, cars and mobile phones? A rising superpower that will probably be the world’s third-largest economy in the next 15 years?

A small export-dependent nation like New Zealand needs a slice of this. But the train to India is halfway out of the station and New Zealand is too busy eyeing up China to notice. So says Shayne Blake, a former New Zealand Steel staffer who became chief marketing officer for Tata BlueScope Steel in India and is now an Auckland-based consultant for export adviser India Horizonz. “I’m standing on the platform saying, ‘You’re almost too late on India! Why are you all still talking only China and not talking India?’”

The article goes on to point out that our exports to India remain dominated by a few commodities, and suggests misconceptions about India and fear of the unknown might be holding our exporters back. But it also features some great examples of New Zealand success in India.

It reinforces to us the need to approach India well prepared with a long-term game plan and the ability to find good local partners.

Read the whole thing at the Listener website, or see the pdf here.