Derek Cheng: The verdict on Jacinda Ardern’s overseas trip and the value of ‘face to face’

ANALYSIS:

One moment she’s smiling at dancing kiwifruit mascots, the next she’s sitting down with the leader of a world powerhouse for the first time and agreeing to step up intelligence-sharing.

Jacinda Ardern’s “bang for your buck” tour across Singapore and Japan traversed the entire spectrum from fun to serious.

There will always be conjecture about whether such trips are worth it, but few would argue there is no benefit at all from the Prime Minister’s first trip overseas in over two years.

The headline benefit is that she was overseas for the first time in over two years.

It means tourists can see that the borders are open, and Ardern can directly invite them to visit – an opportunity she plugged every chance she had.

It means she can sit down with other world leaders and have free and frank and Zoom-less discussions about how to support peace and stability, under the looming shadow of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and China’s potentially military intentions in the Pacific.

And it means business leaders, who paid their own way on the trip, can leverage her presence for networking.

'Light' on deliverables

The country-to-country business partnerships are hoped to lead to tangible developments in renewable energy, “green lane” flights , and a growing innovative food sector – whether it’s ZAP light or stem cell meats.

Some businesses, though, appeared to have different views on the leveraging opportunity; Fonterra boss Miles Hurrell, for example, flew commercially instead of on the RNZAF Boeing 757, and told Newsroom the trip was a great chance to visit Fonterra’s Singapore office – which doesn’t need a Prime Minister’s visit.

It’s also easy to be sceptical about the size of the wins. One partnership agreement is for supplying kiwifruit powder as a beauty product.

“From where I sit, in terms of deliverables it seems a bit on the light end, if you compare it to some previous trips,” says Asia NZ Foundation chief executive Simon Draper, a former diplomat.

“That said, a dictum of offshore trips is that they are always a success, whatever happens.It’s just a matter of degree.”

Ardern points out that trade agreements between nations merely control how open the doors are, and it’s up to businesses to walk through them.

It’s possible that none of the potential benefits will trickle down in a tangible way to the average Kiwi, unless they’re involved in tourism or, for instance, making plant-based beef jerky.

There are also less tangible benefits from having like-minded friends overseas who want peace and prosperity in the region.

It remains to be seen how the joint statements with Singapore and Japan will impact the likelihood of the militarisation in the Pacific. That may depend on how China responds, and what the US does; senior White House officials are already in the Solomons this weekend to express their concerns about the China-Solomons security pact.

'Reconnecting' and 'working together'

The schedules in the Singapore and Japan were very similar. There were lots of photo opportunities, interviews with local media, business and trade events focused on climate change and sustainability, and bilateral talks.

Yesterday she wrapped up her last day in Tokyo with scheduled events. It started with a quick visit to a Cookie Time Store. She was then gifted a Japanese national women’s team rugby jersey while at a stadium while relaunching a high school programme, where Japanese students can live in New Zealand, play rugby and learn English.

Asked to pose for several photos, at one point she passed a rugby ball to a Japanese woman who’d been through the programme because, for the photo, the ball should be held by an actual rugby player.

Stressing the importance of face-to-face diplomacy, Ardern met her Japanese host sister who stayed in Morrinsville with the Ardern family for the first time in 30 years.

In-person interactions between cultures showed their value throughout the trip; Singapore and Japanese officials shared several of their own positive experiences in New Zealand at various events.

Ardern's warmth and charm

For Ardern, face-to-face chats were held with new friends as well as old ones.

Her first sit-down with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was a particular point of interest. She had one with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong too, but they’ve met several times and already have a good rapport.

How she would connect with Kishida, the leader of a far more powerful country, was an unknown.

One of Ardern’s strengths, though, is her in-person warmth, charm and humour, attributes John Key also had, though in a very different way.

Her brief interactions with Kishida that the media were allowed to watch were very cordial, including a comical moment where he offered a fist-bump to her handshake, and then a hand-shake to her fist bump. When their hands finally met and shook, Ardern made a quip about a potential high five.

Yesterday she wasn’t shy about sharing the fact that her team’s dinner with Kishida’s went for an hour longer than scheduled.

It will likely take more than that before they’re friendly enough for her to quickly drop a message to him in WhatsApp.

Ardern wouldn’t be drawn on whether she would be comfortable doing that now.

“Do I feel that after you meet someone face to face that it’s easier to engage with them again? Absolutely,” she said.

“And I do feel that, should we ever have the need to, we could engage very quickly.”

Friends in high places – Japan is the world’s third biggest economy – are very valuable to little countries at the bottom of the world.

Not that New Zealand and Japan weren’t friends beforehand, but ongoing good relations aren’t necessarily guaranteed when there’s a new leader.

Says Draper: “It’s crucial for our PM and ministers to start re-establishing ties in the region – and it was particularly important for PM Ardern to connect with PM Kishida for the first time.”

Ardern needing to pass four Covid-19 tests – and having five just to be extra sure – to make it through the trip is a small inconvenience when viewed in this light.

The pandemic had left us isolated.

But with the travel shackles released, this is only the first of many overseas trips for Ardern this year.

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