This report was created by Research First and the Asia New Zealand Foundation to highlight the depth and breadth of South Island business engagement with Asia. It provides an understanding of the key challenges faced by businesses in building and maintaining their Asia business links; the ‘Asia capabilities’ of firms; as well as South Island business sentiment towards future Asia-focused growth.

For businesses interested in Asia, but which have not yet developed links, we identify their perceptions of the opportunities and challenges associated with developing links, and how equipped they felt to get started.

It was developed to share the key lessons learned by businesses when nurturing and growing that engagement; to encourage businesses with existing links to grow further, and to show businesses with an interest in Asia that success is possible.