A Māori trade advocate says New Zealand’s condemnation of Chinese hackers should be a spur for efforts to open up other markets.
New Zealand has joined its Five Eyes partners in condemning a Chinese state-sponsored group, Advanced Persistent Threat 40, whose fingerprints are allegedly on a major cyber attack on Microsoft Exchange servers earlier this year.
Te Taumata chair Chris Karamea Insley says calling out the hack was the right thing to do, even if Māori farming, forestry and fishing businesses are vulnerable to any interruption in New Zealand’s $30 billion annual trade with China.
"The only real strategy New Zealand/Māori businesses have in terms of export trade is China, China and China. So the real game here is all the other trade negotiations under way with the likes of UK and EU, that those negotiations have to be fast tracked. It gives New Zealand and our Māori businesses alternative market," he says.
Mr Insley says China will always be important for trade because of its scale.
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