New Zealand's Manukau City mayor in South Auckland is looking to Pacific nations to help the city's businesses through the recession.
The Manukau City Mayor, Len Brown, and the New Zealand Pacific Business Council are leading a trade delegation to Tonga, Samoa and American Samoa from the 8th to the 17th of August.
Len Brown says a similar trip three years ago was particularly successful, with up to 24 million New Zealand dollars worth of new export and import contracts written up between Pacific nations and New Zealand.
He says it's a difficult time for local businesses and the trip will be a tremendous benefit to them.
"This is a time when you really stretch out, look to open up your networks, build new alliances and get new businesses and also spend a bit of time at building a business base. So really what this is doing is providing an opportunity for the local business who are coming on this to really build into the Pacific and an opportunity for the Pacific to open up its export opportunities to New Zealand."
Len Brown says this is a great way for local government to assist its economic development and business growth.
