ASIA PACIFIC. The 11th annual TFWA Asia Pacific conference and exhibition off to a good start on Tuesday with a wide-ranging keynote speech from the Rt Hon Mike Moore, who is the former Prime Minister of New Zealand and a former Director-General of the World Trade Organisation.
In a self-deprecating and often humorous speech at the conference in Singapore, entitled “When Asia Roars”, Moore told the audience of his optimism at the rise of the Chinese and Indian superpowers.
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| The Rt Hon Mike Moore spoke entertainingly of his record achievement as “the youngest MP ever elected in New Zealand and the youngest ever defeated”. “I was the shortest serving Prime Minister in 100 years,” he told visitors during his TFWA Asia Pacific keynote speech on Tuesday. Pictured top right: TFWA CEO Andrew Ford addresses the audience in Singapore Photos by Salina Christmas | |
Moore, who was instrumental in the accession of China into the World Trade Organisation, asserted forcefully and confidently that “all roads lead to China”. Rattling off a list of startling facts and figures about China’s economy and trading status, he spoke of the country’s huge trade surplus, its low trade tariffs and its pull as a magnet for foreign investment. Increasing numbers of Chinese people are watching television – and some 1,000 new cars are registered in Beijing alone every day.
Asserting that people should not be worried about the perceived threat to their jobs or lifestyles as a result of China’s superpower status, he predicted: “I am not worried about China or India. Those who complain that these two countries threaten their lifestyles will be the first to complain when these economies slow down. When they don’t grow, it will impact on all of us.”
Touching on the retail issues of consumers and brands, Moore observed that today’s consumers “drive everything”, and are more enlightened and more interested in ethical and environmental issues. “Visitors now hunt with cameras, not guns”, he joked. This trend was already evident in tourism with the rise of eco-tourism, he noted.
Moore also spoke of the importance of brands in an open society, as a brand represents “a reputation, the goodwill and trust built up over years”.
On the subject of counterfeiting of goods, which is rife in China, Moore admitted that China was failing to undertake its agreed aim to review the rules on intellectual property rights every year. He said China’s implementation of the rules was “patchy” but he believed the top echelons of the Chinese government wanted to stamp out the fake goods menace.
