In his opening address on the New Zealand-Singapore relations session, Mr Austin shared his perceptions gathered from the prior two days of meetings in Singapore where they met with businessmen, officials, academics and New Zealand companies based in the country.

He observed that Singaporeans were concerned with attaining world class standards in the areas of business, academia and even politics. This preoccupation was compounded by a fear of losing out to India and China. Hence, although Singaporeans valued historical relationships, they were more focussed on dealing with the present competition in the globalizing world.

Singaporeans viewed New Zealand as a nice, green and clean agricultural country. However, due to its distance from Singapore, it was off the radar screen for most Singaporeans.

Mr Austin lamented the lack of awareness of the deep military ties which existed between the two countries and was disappointed that New Zealand was seen as an extension of Australia. Despite the modest levels of bilateral trade and the increasing business links, only a few New Zealand companies were truly internationalizing their businesses in Singapore.

He urged New Zealand companies to show Asians that it was not simply a scenic paradise, empty of people but a powerhouse of creativity, innovation and leading technology which is accessible to world.