New Zealand Trade & Enterprise has earmarked $4 million of its existing budget to fund a professional advice service to established exporters to help them manage through the coronavirus pandemic.
Each exporter who applies will be given a voucher for up to $5,000 per business to gain advice from a professional from either Deloitte or PwC. That includes business continuity planning, scenario planning, business remodeling and supply chain readjustment.
"As countries around the world move to contain and stamp out the virus, this is creating increasing constraints and uncertainty for exporters," said NZTE chief executive Peter Chrisp in a statement announcing the programme.
"However, it is important to note that there remain no formal restrictions on market access for good exports and imports as a result of the outbreak. So, there is a way through this," Chrisp said.

Helping hand

NZTE is keen to support exporters through this period of major disruption, he said.
"In particular, we want to support businesses to step back, rethink and remodel their businesses if required."
The programme will include a three-to-four hour "bespoke workshop" with a professional adviser to work through a covid-19 business response plan. That adviser will make a follow-up call two to three weeks later to check that the plan is working and what the company needs.
NZTE said lessons from China have highlighted digital capability as a key focus.
"This will be a demand-led service and will be expanded as resources permit."

Funding

Fiona Acheson, NZTE's regional director for greater China, told BusinessDesk the funding for the programme is coming from two sources. NZTE has halted all international travel and all over the world activities such as trade shows have been cancelled.
NZTE's website says it exists for one reason: "to grow your business internationally, bigger, better, and faster, for the good of New Zealand" and it works closely with exporters from more than 40 offshore offices.
Acheson said the feedback from exporters to begin with had been all about China and concerns about getting products to the world's most populous nation, getting them cleared through Chinese ports. Now, the concerns are broader.
NZTE is working closely with logistics and freight companies, including getting daily updates from Mainfreight - which has operations in Australasia, Asia, Europe and the United States - to try to keep goods moving, she said.

Service live

The advice service "went live yesterday and we got the first applications yesterday. I think there will be steady and reasonable demand."
Other steps NZTE is taking to aid exporters through the crisis include providing a dedicated website https://covid19.nzte.govt.nz/ to bring together in one place NZTE's market intelligence and to keep exporters up to date with developments.
NZTE is also offering exporters other advisory services including access to a network of private sector "beachheads" advisers and it is developing "drop-in" cash flow clinics.
It has already deployed the extra $4 million the government provided two weeks ago to provide additional on-the-ground business advisers, workshops tailored to specific business needs and access to a national business mentoring service.

An earlier version of this story mis-spelled Fiona Acheson's name.