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Top Asia experts from across New Zealand and the Asia region will meet in Auckland from March 9-11 to share their perspectives on New Zealand’s Asia relations.
The experts are part of the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s Honorary Advisers Network and include current and former ministers, academics, businesspeople and other sector leaders.
As a network, they help to guide the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s work and support its mission of being one of New Zealand’s leading non-profit, non-partisan providers of Asia insights and experiences that help New Zealanders to excel in Asia.
During the two-day meeting, members of the network will meet with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Foreign Minister Winston Peters (who is also chair of the network) and a range of New Zealand’s top public and private sector leaders.
Attendees from Asia will include key figures such as Dr Ng Eng Hen, Singapore’s Minister for Defence; Ms Heekyung Jo Min, executive vice president of major Asian media and entertainment company CJ Cheiljedang; trade expert and former ASEAN Secretariat head Dr Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria; and Professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Thailand’s leading international relations authority.
“The advisers are vital advocates for New Zealand in Asia, bringing deep expertise and longstanding ties. As New Zealand’s relationships with Asia evolve and as the Foundation’s work develops across the region, their contributions become even more critical,” says foundation chief executive, Suz Jessep.
“At a time of profound change in our region, this in-person meeting provides an opportunity to really unpick how other small and medium sized countries are responding to challenges and opportunities in Asia and to hear free and frank assessments from trusted advisers who know us well and who want to see New Zealand succeed,” says Suz.
The advisers have supported New Zealand’s connections with Asia in several ways. In addition to their honorary role, they have also supported educational scholarships, paid internships for New Zealand students in Asian companies and facilitated and participated in Track II (informal diplomacy) dialogues between New Zealand and Asian experts.
