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Chris Luxon: Prime Minister on receiving support from Elon Musk · Best of Business

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talk Z'B. Follow
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  Speaker 2: The Prime Minister is beating the trade drum again on
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  Speaker 2: his ninth trip overseas since coming into office. He's on
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  Speaker 2: a mission to double trade in the next ten years.
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  Speaker 2: Spent two days in Malaysia, the first visit by a
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  Speaker 2: New Zealand Prome minister there since twenty fifteen, and he's
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  Speaker 2: currently in South Korea with trade and security high on
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  Speaker 2: the agenda, and Christopher Luxin's with us.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Hey, Chris, get a here.
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  Speaker 3: How are you saying?
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  Speaker 2: Well? Thank you?
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  Speaker 1: Hey?
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  Speaker 2: Do you know what I've noticed about your trip is
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  Speaker 2: that there's hardly any media coverage of it. What's going on?
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  Speaker 3: Well, all I know is I'm going from meeting to meeting,
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  Speaker 3: meeting with investors, and we've here got a business delegation.
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  Speaker 3: I've been doing a bunch of deals while i've been here,
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  Speaker 3: both in Malaysia and Korea, so i haven't been paying
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  Speaker 3: too much attention to media attention on it. I'm just
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  Speaker 3: getting on and getting the job done, which is that
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  Speaker 3: we have to get rich, and we've got to get
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  Speaker 3: rich by selling more stuff to people around the Southeast
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  Speaker 3: data region.
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  Speaker 2: For Rich Chris, who've you got on which media? Who's
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  Speaker 2: who from the media contingent are on the trip with you?
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  Speaker 3: We've got TVs there with us on this trip and
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  Speaker 3: they were with me today when I was at at AMC.
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  Speaker 2: You've got Benette Collins and that's it.
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  Speaker 3: I think that's in the delegation. Yes, he's traveling on
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  Speaker 3: us in the downdation.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, an uselying commercial, Yes I am. Well, there's your problem,
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  Speaker 2: isn't it. You haven't subsidized the media to come on
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  Speaker 2: the trip with you, so they don't want to pay.
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  Speaker 3: Well, look, I mean I'm able to talk directly to
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  Speaker 3: New Zealanders through something called social media, which is a
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  Speaker 3: novel idea, but it seems to work, and we talk
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  Speaker 3: straight to them and tell them exactly what I'm doing.
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  Speaker 3: So I think people at home understand why I'm here,
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  Speaker 3: and why I am here is because you know, New
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  Speaker 3: Zealand needs to become much wealthier. We do want to
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  Speaker 3: double our exports. We do want to attract investment to
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  Speaker 3: New Zealand to get out roads built, to get a
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  Speaker 3: lot of infrastructure built in the country, and you know,
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  Speaker 3: that's my job is to make sure that we are
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  Speaker 3: making people aware that we are open for business and
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  Speaker 3: we want to be able to work with them and
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  Speaker 3: deep in those relationships.
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  Speaker 2: Has the fairy issue come up in South Korea?
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  Speaker 3: No, not at all, because you know, you've got to
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  Speaker 3: remember a Korea is a two point seven trillion dollar
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  Speaker 3: economy and ultimately that's a dispute between two commercially inviously
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  Speaker 3: it's result.
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  Speaker 2: It's obviously sensitive enough for our ambassador there to have
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  Speaker 2: to tell a high level diplomat beforehand, right, So, like,
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  Speaker 2: are you telling me absolutely, No one's mentioned it at all.
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  Speaker 3: No, I hasn't come up in conversation whatsoever. And it's
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  Speaker 3: not something that I've proactively raised either. It's something that
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  Speaker 3: deserves you know, that can be raised through contractual arrangements
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  Speaker 3: and contracts that exists between Korean firm and a New
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  Speaker 3: Zealand firm, and they're quite capable of sorting that out.
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  Speaker 2: Hey, how are you going to make us rich out
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  Speaker 2: of South Korea?
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  Speaker 3: Well, look, I mean there's huge opportunities here. I mean
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  Speaker 3: even yesterday I talked to President Un and we agreed
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  Speaker 3: to remove some what are called non you know, tariff
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  Speaker 3: barriers are that exists between our two countries, and so
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  Speaker 3: you know, five different dairy type of products that have
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  Speaker 3: been difficult to sell in Korea. We've been able to
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  Speaker 3: free that up. The same with things like blueberries and
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  Speaker 3: you know, even just those little things. You know, that's
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  Speaker 3: fifteen million dollars worth the value to New Zealand each
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  Speaker 3: and every year. We've agreed to look it upgrading our
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  Speaker 3: FTA agreement over the course of next year, which is
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  Speaker 3: important to make sure that we've got really competitive settings
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  Speaker 3: that New Zealand growers and producers and those of tech
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  Speaker 3: firms look renewable energy, but also in advanced aviation and
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  Speaker 3: space our opportunities for New Zealand as well. So you know,
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  Speaker 3: it's really about us understanding. Look, you know, we do
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  Speaker 3: not get wealthy in a small country selling stuff to
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  Speaker 3: each other. We need to get out in the world
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  Speaker 3: and hustle. And that's why I've had it so hard
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  Speaker 3: in my first year because I and I've got Winston
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  Speaker 3: Peter's out there on the planes a lot. I've got
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  Speaker 3: Trade ministm maclay out there. I've got Defense Minister Collins
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  Speaker 3: out there as well, like the four of us to
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  Speaker 3: lift our intensity and our urgency and our relationships, because
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  Speaker 3: we have to convert opportunity for New Zealand people, and
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  Speaker 3: that means trade. And we know when New Zealand firms
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  Speaker 3: are exporting, they are able to pay much higher wages
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  Speaker 3: as a consequence because they're doing better than those that
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  Speaker 3: aren't exporting. And so it's a really important thing that
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  Speaker 3: I do everything I can to set the conditions and
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  Speaker 3: the set up right. We've got I think twenty two
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  Speaker 3: outstanding business leaders here from a range of sectors across
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  Speaker 3: the economy. And as you know, yesterday I sat there
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  Speaker 3: and you know, we signed ten deals between Korean and
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  Speaker 3: New Zelling companies. We did similarly similar activity in Malaysia
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  Speaker 3: as well, So all of that is incredibly positive for Malaysia.
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  Speaker 3: You know, just by showing up talking to the Prime
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  Speaker 3: Minister and the officials, I said, well, look, you know,
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  Speaker 3: we want to sell red meat into Malaysia. It's very
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  Speaker 3: difficult at the moment with halal regulations and bureaucracy on
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  Speaker 3: your side. We need to get that sort of Prime
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  Speaker 3: Minister and we both committed that in the next two
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  Speaker 3: months we would make our officials, particularly on the Malaysian side,
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  Speaker 3: actually get that job done so we can get red
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  Speaker 3: meat flowing into Malaysia.
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  Speaker 2: Did I hear that you saw one of those rubbish
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  Speaker 2: balloons being launched by North Korea today?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah? I have to be honest with that. It was
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  Speaker 3: really interesting today because you know, we live in a
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  Speaker 3: pretty benign environment in the South Pacific, but you know
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  Speaker 3: up here in you know, you've got North Korea on
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  Speaker 3: your border. And so I went to the DMZ this morning,
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  Speaker 3: and if you think about it, you know, the the
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  Speaker 3: Korean War finished, but actually essentially a ceasefire was maintained
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  Speaker 3: through an armistice, and we've had peacekeeping troops here on
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  Speaker 3: the ground. In fact, I've tripled the resources. Overcoming year
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  Speaker 3: will happen as well. But essentially, as we were standing
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  Speaker 3: there on the DMZA, balloon went up with rubbish bags
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  Speaker 3: attached to it. And that's North Korea sending trash in
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  Speaker 3: to South Korea.
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  Speaker 2: And the weird Jesus is like stuff you do at school.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, a lot of it's irrational and it doesn't make
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  Speaker 3: a lot of sense. But what does make sense is
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  Speaker 3: that you very clearly the message I've been trying to
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  Speaker 3: communicate over the course of this year is that that security,
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  Speaker 3: peace and stability relatively we've had on the Korean Peninsula
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  Speaker 3: rather than a hot war or hot conflict, has meant
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  Speaker 3: that South Korea has grown into the fourteenth largest economy
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  Speaker 3: in the world. New Zealand has doubled our trade with
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  Speaker 3: South Korea in the last nine years. And so you
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  Speaker 3: cannot have economic prosperity without security and peace and stability.
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  Speaker 3: And that's why I keep saying in twenty twenty four,
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  Speaker 3: security and economic interest are inextricably linked. And that's why
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  Speaker 3: you've got able to talk both of those conversations at
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  Speaker 3: the same time.
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  Speaker 2: What's up with Elon Musk's love affair with you?
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  Speaker 3: I thought that, ye, like one of my kids told
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  Speaker 3: me that, But.
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  Speaker 2: I follows you on Twitter. Now did you see that?
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  Speaker 3: Anyone who's support us?
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  Speaker 2: Of us?
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  Speaker 3: That's great? So I take support from anyone. But more importantly,
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  Speaker 3: I'm just focused on the job and getting things done.
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  Speaker 2: Listen, why don't you milk that for us? Like Elon Musk?
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  Speaker 2: I mean, he's about dodgy, but he's got heaps of money, so.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I've got to do the business here in South Korea,
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  Speaker 3: so we'll be focused on that trade, make sure we
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  Speaker 3: grow New Zealand. That's what it's got to be about.
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  Speaker 2: Trade trip, job done, trade trip to Elon's house next day.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you very much, Christopher appreciated. Look after yourself as
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  Speaker 2: Christopher lux and the Prime Minister who's over in South
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  Speaker 2: Korea at the moment.
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