Business_Spotlight_No3_202..

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION 3/2020 Business Spotlight 31

FAST FACTS:

NEW ZEALAND

Capital: Wellington

Other main cities: Auckland,

Christchurch

Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II

Head of government: Prime

Minister Jacinda Ardern

Population: 4.925 million (2020

est.)

Official languages: English and

Maori

Currency: NZ dollar (€1 = NZ$ 1.7)

GDP: $189 billion, making it the

world’s 68th-biggest economy,

using purchasing power parity

(2017 est.)

GDP annual growth: 2.7%

(September 2019)

Unemployment: 4.8% (2019)

Inflation: 1.94% (2018)

PAUL WHEATLEY
is a British-born writer specializing in culture,
travel, business and history.
Contact: [email protected]

annual

[(ÄnjuEl]

, jährlich

est. (estimate)

[(estImEt]

, Schätzung

GDP (gross domestic

product)

[)dZi: di: (pi:]

, BIP (Bruttoinlands-

produkt)

purchasing power

parity [)p§:tSEsIN

)paUE (pÄrEti]

, Kaufkraftparität

+PLUS

Test your knowledge

of New Zealand in

our exercise booklet,

Business Spotlight

Plus. To order, go

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And now that China is New Zealand’s largest export
partner, the country is being buffeted by the current
turbulence in the Chinese economy and the contin-
uing trade war with the US.
But there are also substantial positives. In 2019,
the World Bank named New Zealand the world’s
best place for doing business, ahead of Singapore and
Denmark. And New Zealand has free-trade deals with
both China and Australia, which is New Zealand’s
second-largest export partner, followed by the US,
Japan, South Korea and then the UK. (The UK is also
New Zealand’s third-largest investor, after the US and
Australia.)
Mass international tourism is now a mainstay of
the country’s economy, but this is at a time when
climate experts are demanding we all take far few-
er flights. A government report in December 2019
noted that “increasing numbers of tourists — both
domestic and international — are putting our en-
vironment under pressure and eroding the very
attributes that make Aotearoa New Zealand such an
attractive country to visit.”
In addition to the normal political issues any
country faces, New Zealand therefore also faces
challenges relating to its heavy reliance on agricul-
ture and tourism to support economic growth. In
environmental terms, neither challenge will likely
play a major role in the election later this year. But if
New Zealand wants to keep its reputation as one of
the most alluring countries on the planet, sooner or
later, it will be forced to face up to such issues.

buffeted: be ~ by sth.
[(bVfItId]
, von etw. gebeutelt werden

erode sth. [I(rEUd]
, etw. aushöhlen;
hier: etw. Schaden zufügen

face up to sth. [)feIs (Vp tu]
, sich etw. stellen

mainstay [(meInsteI]
, Standbein; hier auch:
wichtiger Faktor

reliance (on) [ri(laIEns]
, Abhängigkeit (von)

IN 2019, THE WORLD BANK

NAMED NEW ZEALAND THE BEST

PLACE FOR DOING BUSINESS

North Island:

Hobbit country

Sources:

CIA Word Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/

library/publications/the-world-factbook/

geos/nz.html

Stats NZ: https://www.stats.govt.nz/

indicators/gross-domestic-product-gdp

Statista: https://www.statista.com/

statistics/375266/unemployment-rate-in-

new-zealand

https://www.statista.com/statistics/375265/

inflation-rate-in-new-zealand)