1. Brexit - Opportunities and Challenges for New Zealand
Saida Parvin
Baptist S. Victoria
Auckland Institute of Studies
8th Biennial CRIE Conference 2018
15-16 January 2018
Auckland, New Zealand

2. Background of the Study
The United Kingdom (UK) joined the European Union in 1973 but it didn’t join the euro zone (Dao, 2017).
UK issued own currency and independent fiscal policy.
In June 2017, 51.9% voted in favor of “leave EU”.
Factors leading to Brexit:
Trade
Unemployment
Social Security
Immigration
Political & Economical
Legal Quandaries (Boyle, 2015)

3. Brexit – What Does it Mean for New Zealand (NZ)
Both EU and UK are major trading partners for NZ.
A big part of NZ’s history and culture also linked to UK.
Brexit can have big impact on the economic situation in NZ.

4. Brexit – New Zealand Trade & Export
UK was important Foreign Market for NZ Economy before it joined EU.
After joining EU and the growth of NZ’s trade industry, UK is the 6th largest export market.
Meat and Wine are still some of the highest export items from NZ to UK.
Been a primary export commodity to the EU, especially the UK.
Removal of free trade might affect these numbers.

5. Brexit – New Zealand Trade & Export
Many farmers from UK are also sheep rearing and exporting meat to the EU.
Post Brexit, they would face subsidy reductions and their prices would increase, which means they would not be too happy about NZ meat being exported there.

6. Brexit - New Zealand Investment
British are one of the prime investors in NZ for businesses.
Post Brexit, with the fall in value of the Pound, this might change.
They might reduce investments in NZ and look for options elsewhere.

7. Brexit - New Zealand Tourism
Number of tourists from UK is increasing by the years.
According to statistics, there’s a 14.3% increase in 2017 compared to last year (Tourism New Zealand, 2017).

8. Brexit - New Zealand Tourism
Post Brexit, high probability that value of the Pound falls.
When that happens, a sizeable number of the British might not want to travel overseas.
Thereby decreasing revenue from NZ Tourism

9. Brexit - Other impacts on New Zealand
Short term impacts seem limited for the time being, leading to delays in investments and trade.
The extent of these impacts is completely reliant on time.
For example, decrease in the Pound value has created problems for NZ traders to capture export contracts in UK.

10. Brexit - Opportunities for New Zealand
Before UK joined EU, 90% of the total exports from NZ was to the UK, which then fell dramatically afterwards.
Post Brexit, it provides NZ with a wealth of opportunities to get back the lost numbers.
New trade agreements globally especially NZ and Australia.
Due to the increase in price, EU might not buy meat and agricultural products from the UK and hence, demand for NZ meat could increase in the EU (Kelly, 2017).

11. New Zealand – Safe but Clever?
NZ, being one of the most stable economies appears to be in a safe position.
Well prepared to handle any shocks in the process.
NZ should draft new trade agreements with both the UK and the EU once the separation happens to their maximum benefit.

12. Conclusion
Everyone surrounding the UK and its exit would be affected in some way or the other.
NZ appears to be in a safe cushion for the time being.
We cannot take hard decision on Brexit but we can assume it will be positive for NZ economy.
A lot of unpredictability surrounding Brexit but only time will tell the conclusion to this topic.

13. References
Boyle, C. (2015). Just what is the UK’s problem with Europe? Retrieved from CNBC:
Dao, Z. (2017). Introduction of EU. Retrieved from
Hunt, A., & Wheeler, B. (2017). Brexit: All you need to know about the UK leaving the EU. Retrieved from BBC News:
Kelly, S. (2017). Brexit: the past, present and future impact on New Zealand. Retrieved from Stuff:
Tourism New Zealand. (2017). United Kingdom Market Overview. Retrieved from Tourism New Zealand:

14. Comments & Questions