I read your posting with great interest. The company I work for
CALYPSO TOURS SA runs cruises to islands off the coast of Costa Rica.
Four years ago, we built a new state-of-the-art catamaran for one of
our tours. We looked all over the world for a drive system and ended
up choosing one from NZ called Hamilton Jets.
Hamilton of NZ through their office in Florida gave us a big song and
dance about how we could count on support from NZ for our company and
our boat (which takes about 20,000 passengers a year). Well we were
sold the Jets and Hamiltion has refused to give us any (that right
none at all) support, because, in their words "we were too far away."
We needed special technical assistance due to our tropical weather
conditions and other help with the drives. To this day Hamilton will
give us no support.
In theory, maybe NZ would like to have more trade with Latin America
but I would recommend to anyone interested in trade with NZ to be very
careful. This has been an extremely expensive mistake for us buying
something from a country "so far away."
Do you have any idea what DHL air courier charges to get a
little...lets say...a small screw or other small part... for our
jets ship to Costa Rica. A fortune. Do they carry the stock of
parts in Florida as they promised. No.
I appreciate your research work, just a point from a customer to keep
in mind.
Garland Baker Calypso Tours
http://www.calypsotours.com/cr/calypso/caltortu.htm
gbaker@sol.racsa.co.cr
----------------ORIGINAL EMAILS ADDED HERE FOR REFERENCE-------------
> Date: Wed, 28 Aug 96 19:59:41 EST
> From: marty evans <mevans@atlcom.net>
> Subject: Kim in NZ
> To: latco@psg.com
> >Hi there from New Zealand,
> >
> >My name is Kim Thomson. I am an undergraduate at the Auckland Institute =
> >of Technology in New Zealand - majoring in International Business and =
> >Economics. =20
> >
> >At the moment I am writing a paper involving trade relations between =
> >Latin America and New Zealand. Up until recently the focus in New =
> >Zealand has been on Asia for obvious reasons (if you all know where New =
> >Zealand is!). Just 1 month ago, the New Zealand government launched a =
> >"Focus Latin America" initiative which is to encourage trade and =
> >relations with this area - our closest easterly neighbour.
> >
> >My research objective was to determine whether, for various reasons, New =
> >Zealand is in a position to act as a trading bridge between Latin =
> >America and Asia. Our initial feeling was that New Zealand and Latin =
> >America had more in common culturally etc. than Latin America and Asia. =
> >After looking at the issue closer, it seems that this could not be =
> >further from the truth - in fact Latin America and Asia appear to have =
> >many cultural similarities while New Zealand is our in the cold.
> >
> >This lead to the idea that if there are similarities between Asia and =
> >Latin America (taking into account that both areas are made up of many =
> >culturally heterogeneous countries), then NZ may be able to use its =
> >recent experiences with Asia to facilitate its new trading opportunities =
> >in the Latin American region.
> >
> >Finding information on business culture in Latin America is difficult. =
> >There is plenty of information on Asian culture.=20
> >
> >Other related ideas I am exploring include the comparative advantages of =
> >New Zealand and Latin America. How similar are they and what affect =
> >will any similarities have on trade.
> >
> >Basically I am asking for any input that you guys may have on any aspect =
> >of this area: sources, ideas, opinions... Even if you don't know about =
> >the concept in relation to New Zealand, any other related experiences =
> >and ideas would be greatly appreciated.
> >
> >Thankyou in advance
> >
> >Kim Thomson
> >
> >(kimcraig@i-max.co.nz)
> >
>
> Kim,
>
> It sounds like you are digging up some interesting topics with a novel twist.
> Having studied Latin America extensively, I have noticed, and looked at it some
> myself, the comparative development of East Asia and Latin America. What is
> often forgotten is that the East Asian Tigers of today were the 'backwater
> areas' 50 years ago while Latin America was more developed and had a brighter
> future. This led a fair number of economists to study their comparative
> developments to try and determine what accounts for the disparity in
> development.
>
> Although that line of thinking seems a little more academic than you may be
> looking for, I have found it to be quite useful in assessing the short-term
> development of different industries in Latin America. The region has been
> adopting policies similar to East Asia's of the last 50 years so it is a valid
> comparison.
>
> Finally, I have also found it difficult to find an identifiable body of
> literature on business culture in Latin America. What I have found useful are
> current event type history books (especially those written by former newspaper
> reporters eg Limits to Friendship or Distant Neighbors for Mexico). They
> contain a surprising amout cultural practices and nuances.
>
> I hope you have good luck in pursuing this. I would be interested in what you
> find out from others about business culture, whether there are some books they
> recommended, etc.
>
> Regards,
>
> Marty Evans