PRESS RELEASE Monday 11 June, 2018 Samoa Business Network (SBN) and the New Zealand Samoa Trade & Investment Commission (NZSTIC) celebrated Independence Day with the Samoan and New Zealand business community at their Independence Day Business Networking Event which was staged at the Fale o Samoa in Mangere last Thursday evening, with the theme 'Celebrating our Samoan/New Zealand Trade & Business Relationship'.
An event well attended by members of Samoa Business Network and NZSTIC, Community Leaders, Samoan and Pacific business owners, and professionals celebrating the trade and business relationships that Samoa and New Zealand continue to have and one that they hope will continue to grow and prosper for years to come. The event focused on building stronger connections between Samoan based and NZ based Samoan businesses. The official welcome was delivered by Laura Keil-Hall, Co-founder and current Chairwoman of SBN and Frank Po Ching, Chairman of NZSTIC, who set the scene and spoke about the theme of the event. It also marked the introduction and first public engagement for the new Samoa Trade Commissioner, Magele Maliliu Magele, who was also the key note speaker. Magele shared the story about his appointment by the Prime Minister, who told him the role would require “common sense” and also challenged him to bring more business opportunities to Samoa. He also highlighted some of the key milestones Samoa trade has achieved to date, in terms of reviving taro exports to New Zealand, introducing frozen breadfruit chips to the New Zealand market, and the continued success of the RSE scheme in supporting the skill shortage in NZ in the agriculture and construction industries. Magele will be working closely with NZSTIC & Samoa Business Network and their key stakeholders, and business connections, to enhance existing business relationships and find opportunities to bring new business connections to Samoa. Guest speakers for the evening included David Wong Tung, founding Member & Commissioner of NZSTIC and Moananu Tyrone Laurenson, Programme Manager for High Tech Youth Network project in Samoa. David spoke about the humble beginnings of NZSTIC, and the launch in 2011 by the Prime Minister of Samoa, Tuilaepa Malielegaoi and the former Prime Minister of NZ, To'osavili John Key at Holiday Inn Hotel. NZSTIC as an organisation has over the years grown to include representatives of key NZ government departments in the area of Trade and Pacific Economic Development agencies. NZSTIC and its members have also advised the Prime Minister of Samoa on key economic development projects over years, such as the upcoming Samoa Ports upgrade. Moananu Tyrone Laurenson, shared the history of the inception of the High Teach Youth project in Samoa, in which the new Samoa Trade Commissioner was involved in securing space for the Computer Lab in Vaivase Tai, through his former role as the Minister of Education of Samoa. The High Tech Youth Project is now delivering after school Digital Learning programs to over 800 school children and youth in Samoa. These programs are equipping these young people with digital skills which they can use to further their education, and ultimately find employment and business opportunities in the IT sector in future. This project highlighted the positive impact of projects supported by New Zealand government and partners, to upskilling Samoan youth for future employment and ultimately creating new business opportunities in Samoa. Special guests from Samoa included, Tuala Matthew Vaea, CEO of SASNOC and the Samoa Tag Incorporated Executive team led by President Fa’aofonu’u Junior Leota. Samoa Tag Incorporated are in New Zealand to promote their upcoming international Teuila Tag tournament in September. Tuala spoke on behalf of the group, about the important contribution of sports and sporting events to economic development and business in the Pacific Islands. The formalities concluded with Afamasaga Jackie Curry, Chairwoman of SBN Samoa, sharing the new strategic direction, goals and activities of Samoa Business Network for 2018-2019. Some of the upcoming projects and events for SBN include:
In her concluding remarks, Afamasaga shared a reflection on the importance of working together as Samoans based overseas to give back to our country, “E lele le toloa ae maau lava I le vai”, wherever Samoans venture in the world, they will always return home. This is the spirit of Samoa Business Network, to give back to our country through facilitating new business opportunities and tapping into the professional expertise and experience of our global Samoan business and professional community. The event ended with a Cocktail ‘Mix & Mingle’ for attendees to network and make new connections. There was a showcase of businesses which included Soy Delights NZ, owned by Louise Thompson, O le Va’a Folau book written by Henrietta Ah Chong of Gennewwine Books, the MyRivr App, showcased by Director, Elia Chan & CEO, Akerei Thompson, and 7e Technology, showcased by CEO Micheal Sangyum and Community Projects Manager, Tama Emery. Overall, the event was a success and all who attended enjoyed the networking opportunities, the motivational speakers, the ambiance of a classy Pacific style event and most of all the high quality bistro style finger-food delivered by the caterers, Matai Catering. The SBN Executive Committee & NZSTIC would like to acknowledge the support from the following individuals and businesses who helped to deliver this event:
For more information about NZSTIC and their ongoing work to promote trade in Samoa, please visit their website http://www.nzstic.co.nz/. For more information on Samoa Business Network events and projects please visit their website https://www.samoabusinessnetwork.org or connect with them on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. End of Press Release
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Samoa Business Network (SBN) and the New Zealand Samoa Trade & Investment Commission (NZSTIC) celebrated Independence Day with the Samoan and New Zealand business community at their Independence Day Business Networking Event which was staged at the Fale o Samoa in Mangere last Thursday evening, with the theme 'Celebrating our Samoan/New Zealand Trade & Business Relationship'. An event well attended by members of Samoa Business Network and NZSTIC, Community Leaders, Samoan and Pacific business owners, and professionals celebrating the trade and business relationships that Samoa and New Zealand continue to have and one that they hope will continue to grow and prosper for years to come. The event focused on building stronger connections between Samoan based and NZ based Samoan businesses. The official welcome was delivered by Laura Keil-Hall, Co-founder and current Chairwoman of SBN and Frank Po Ching, Chairman of NZSTIC, who set the scene and spoke about the theme of the event. It also marked the introduction and first public engagement for the new Samoa Trade Commissioner, Magele Mauliliu Magele, who was also the key note speaker. Magele shared the story about his appointment by the Prime Minister, who told him the role would require “common sense” and also challenged him to bring more business opportunities to Samoa. He also highlighted some of the key milestones Samoa trade has achieved to date, in terms of reviving taro exports to New Zealand, introducing frozen breadfruit chips to the New Zealand market, and the continued success of the RSE scheme in supporting the skill shortage in NZ in the agriculture and construction industries. Magele will be working closely with NZSTIC & Samoa Business Network and their key stakeholders, and business connections, to enhance existing business relationships and find opportunities to bring new business connections to Samoa. Guest speakers for the evening included David Wong Tung, Founding Member & Commissioner of NZSTIC and Moananu Tyrone Laurenson, Programme Manager for High Tech Youth Network project in Samoa. David spoke about the humble beginnings of NZSTIC, and the launch in 2011 by the Prime Minister of Samoa, Tuilaepa Malielegaoi and the former Prime Minister of NZ, To'osavili John Key at Holiday Inn Hotel. NZSTIC as an organisation has over the years grown to include representatives of key NZ government departments in the area of Trade and Pacific Economic Development agencies. NZSTIC and its members have also advised the Prime Minister of Samoa on key economic development projects over years, such as the upcoming Samoa Ports upgrade. Moananu Tyrone Laurenson, shared the history of the inception of the High Tech Youth project in Samoa, in which the new Samoa Trade Commissioner was involved in securing space for the Computer Lab in Vaivase Tai, through his former role as the Minister of Education of Samoa. The High Tech Youth Project is now delivering after school Digital Learning programs to over 800 school children and youth in Samoa. These programs are equipping these young people with digital skills which they can use to further their education, and ultimately find employment and business opportunities in the IT sector in future. This project highlighted the positive impact of projects supported by New Zealand government and partners, to upskilling Samoan youth for future employment and ultimately creating new business opportunities in Samoa. Special guests from Samoa included, Tuala Matthew Vaea, CEO of SASNOC and the Samoa Tag Incorporated Executive team led by President Fa’aofonu’u Junior Leota. Samoa Tag Incorporated are in New Zealand to promote their upcoming international Teuila Tag tournament in September. Tuala spoke on behalf of the group, about the important contribution of sports and sporting events to economic development and business in the Pacific Islands. The formalities concluded with Afamasaga Jackie Curry, Chairwoman of SBN Samoa, sharing the new strategic direction, goals and activities of Samoa Business Network for 2018-2019. Some of the upcoming projects and events for SBN include:
In her concluding remarks, Afamasaga shared a reflection on the importance of working together as Samoans based overseas to give back to our country, “E lele le toloa ae maau lava I le vai”, wherever Samoans venture in the world, they will always return home. This is the spirit of Samoa Business Network, to give back to our country through facilitating new business opportunities and tapping into the professional expertise and experience of our global Samoan business and professional community. The event ended with a Cocktail ‘Mix & Mingle’ for attendees to network and make new connections. There was a showcase of businesses which included Soy Delights NZ, owned by Louise Thompson, O le Va’a Folau book written by Henrietta Ah Chong of Gennewwine Books, the MyRivr App, showcased by Director, Elia Chan & CEO, Akerei Thompson, and 7e Technology, showcased by CEO Micheal Sangyum and Community Projects Manager, Tama Emery. Overall, the event was a success and all who attended enjoyed the networking opportunities, the motivational speakers, the ambiance of a classy Pacific style event and most of all the high quality bistro style finger-food delivered by the caterers, Matai Catering. The SBN Executive Committee & NZSTIC would like to acknowledge the support from the following individuals and businesses who helped to deliver this event:
For more information about NZSTIC and their ongoing work to promote trade in Samoa, please visit their website http://www.nzstic.co.nz/. For more information on Samoa Business Network events and projects please visit their website https://www.samoabusinessnetwork.org or connect with them on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. End of Press Release
Samoa Business Network announces two major events to happen in 2018 at the SBN and NZSTIC Independence Day Business Networking Event on 7th June;
Today marks 56 years since Samoa gained Independence and we are celebrating this momentous occasion with our Samoan business community in Auckland, New Zealand. Samoa Business Network Inc has partnered with New Zealand Samoa Trade & Investment Commission (NZSTIC) to co-host a Business Networking Event to celebrate Samoa Independence Day which is staged to take place at the Fale o Samoa - Samoa House in Mangere on Thursday 7th June, 2018. The theme of the evening is 'Celebrating our Samoa/NZ Trade & Business Relationship' - focusing on building stronger connections between Samoan based and NZ based Samoan owned businesses. The keynote speaker for the evening will be the newly appointed Samoa Trade Commissioner, Magele Mauiliu Magele. Guest speakers to include Founding Member and Commissioner of NZSTIC David Wong Tung, In-Country Programme Manager of High Tech Youth Samoa Moananu Tyrone Laurenson and one other speaker yet to be confirmed. Our speakers will be speaking to the theme of the evening with our guest speakers sharing their experiences of doing business both in Samoa and New Zealand as well as the importance of partnerships. This event also serves as Magele's introduction to members of SBN and NZSTIC, stakeholders, community leaders and wider business community and will also be his first public speaking engagement in New Zealand. We welcome anyone that is keen to network and connect with the Samoan business community. Ia manuia tele lou 56 tausaga talu ona e tutoatasi Samoa! Happy 56 years of Independence Samoa! Event Details: Independence Day Business Networking Event 'Celebration our Samoan/NZ Trade & Business Relationship' Thursday 7th June, 2017 - 6pm Fale o Samoa - Mangere Entry: $35pp SBN/NZSTIC Member & $45 Non-Member To book tickets: Click Here! INDEPENDENCE DAY EVENT - SPEAKER PROFILES Magele Mauiliu Magele - Samoa Trade Commissioner Keynote Speaker, le afioga ia 'Magele Mauiliu Magele' - the new incoming Samoa Trade Commissioner to NZ. Magele is a former student of Vaipouli & Samoa College. Holds a Bachelor of Education from University of the South Pacific, Fiji (USP) & a Masters of Educational Administrations from the University of New South Wales, Australia. Prior to his appointment to Trade Commissioner, he ran his own consulting business called Tanoa Consulting. This was after 5 years serving the Government of Samoa as Minister of Education, Sports & Culture & was also responsible for the National University of Samoa (NUS), Samoa Qualification Authority (SQA), the National Archives & Records Authority and Chair of UNESCO’s Local Commission Secretariat. A former Vice-Chancellor & President of NUS, Founding Chief Executive Officer of Samoa Polytechnic (SP), former Principal of Western Samoa Technical Institute. This event will be his first public speaking engagement in NZ as Trade Commissioner. David Wong Tung – Founding Member and Commissioner of NZSTIC David avid has 32 years’ experience as a lawyer, independent company director, business developer and entrepreneur. He is currently an Honorary Special Projects Advisor to the Prime Minister of Samoa. He was a Founding Member and Commissioner of the New Zealand and NZSTIC and Pasifika Leadership Foundation Trustee. David has mentored a range of New Zealand, and Samoan based businesses. His specialist expertise in extractive industries and resources in New Zealand and the Pacific. Significant businesses developed include Auckland Council joint venture property investment and development, SOE purchase from Samoan government, finance and money exchange company, international trading, large scale processing, manufacturing and export of primary produce, contract wine purchase, branding and export, gold mining, extractive minerals and landfill investments. Currently investment, business development, revenue building and pre-IPO structuring of a technology start-up for IPO in 2 years in Singapore and Hong Kong. David holds both a Bachelor of Laws and an Executive MBA from the University of Auckland. Tyrone Laurenson – In Country Programme Manager, High Tech Youth Samoa Moananu Tyrone Malaesaili Laurenson, In Country Programme Manager for the High Tech Youth Project in Samoa (funded by New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Partnerships Fund). The High Tech Youth Project is an exciting project, which will give youth in Samoa access to online learning tools & technology, based in Vaivase-Tai. Moananu hails from the villages of Lufilufi, Lepea & Vaimoso. He served in the NZ Police Force for 25 years and was a recipient of the 1990 New Zealand Commemoration Medal & Erebus Special Medal. Moananu has worked in various roles in Samoa since 2008, including Registrar at the National University of Samoa, Administration Manager of the AusAID funded Samoa Police & Prisons Service Institutional Strengthening Project 2004-2006 and Assistant Vice Chancellor, Oceania University of Medicine. Moananu will be sharing his experiences, as a NZ born Samoan, returning home to work and contribute to Samoa through a range of projects. He will also be sharing some of the specific successes and challenges of implementing the High Tech Youth Project in Samoa.
She has 6 children now and is still married to her husband of 16 years, Moses Ah Chong. She was a top debater in Australia and Robert Louis Secondary School with a love of the English subject and writing. Henrietta also created and produced a musical theatrical in Samoa called Grease Polynesia, that made the National Newspaper, reviewing it as a hit show with an attendance of 3000 people. She has tried her hand at many business ventures like car importing from Japan, Video Shop, Takeaway restaurant, Tyre Exporter and was also contracted to Skills Update as a Social Media Manager in 2017. Her motto is God first for everything and failures are learning curves. She migrated with her family to New Zealand in 2011 and focused on raising her family and wrote whenever she could. In 2016, she was offered a publishing contract from London and New Zealand. She turned them both down as she wanted to own the rights to her writing, and also open up her own publishing company. In 2018, she has finally achieved that. Her future aspirations are to incorporate her writing with music and theatre and have studios for both, nevertheless help NZ authors self-publish their writing in affordable ways. She is a devout Christian that loves God, and gives credit to God for everything she achieves. Henrietta will be doing a book signing and reading at the launch of her book at SSAB Sei Oriana in Mangere this coming Thursday 31 May at 6pm. Perfect timing to co-incide with Samoa Language Week! Samoa Business Network & SSAB Sei Oriana invite you to join us for the Official Launch of 'O le Va'a Folau' Book signing and Reading
Published by Samoa Planet 16 May, 2018. Samoa As part of this year’s TechweekNZ, the Digital Moana Forum will be showcasing successful Pacific people who are in their own right, trail blazers in different parts of the tech sector.
Samoa’s very own Fa’aso’otauloa Sam Saili, Chief Executive Officer of SkyEye, will be the keynote speaker for the “Inspire, Inform, Empower Forum” to be held in Auckland on the 22nd May. In line with the event’s aim, which is to open up existing opportunities in the tech sector for participants and to promote Pasifika people in the tech industry – Fa’aso’otauloa will be focusing on providing motivation, with his signature ‘can-do’ attitude. He told Samoa Planet that he would be speaking about the struggles of having an ICT company in a physically and virtually isolated environment, as well as how to make ICT work for you, and not the other way around. He also wants to use the opportunity to encourage Pacific Island youths to have the confidence to get into the sector, he said “(I’ll cover how to) use the limited resources we have in the islands to build a regional company and encourage our PI youths that if we can do it in the islands with very limited resources, they can do it much faster, easier and bigger.” Drawing from the advantages of being from the Pacific Islands, Fa’aso’otauloa also said he would “highlight that being from the Pacific Islands or knowing and having knowledge of the Pacific Islands is a big advantage compared to developers that do not have that knowledge so encourage them to use that advantage.” In offering more valuable insight into the world of tech business, Fa’aso’otauloa told Samoa Planet, “Once you set up a good business online, you are immediately a global business because you have a global audience now. “But there is a in difference having a global audience, and delivering your service in the other countries, but the best part of being a Pacific Islander in this area (ICT), when you set up in one, it will be similar for the rest of the Pacific in terms of market demand and behaviour.” If you’re keen to hear SkyEye’s presentation and learn from other leading Pacific people in the tech industry, be sure not to miss out on the one day Forum at the end of this month. You’ll be able to learn about programming, web development, gaming and creative technology – from some of the region’s best. SAMOA PLANET Article - http://www.samoaplanet.com/skyeye-ceo-share-words-wisdom-nzs-techweek-2018/ Photo Credit: Samoa Planet PRESS RELEASE The Author of 'O le Va'a Folau', Henrietta Lee Devoe Ah Chong is pleased to announce the Official Launch of her new book of bilingual (Samoan/English) Poetry.
The book launch event is being supported and sponsored by SSAB Sei Oriana, Samoa Business Network and Gennewwine Books. The Launch will be staged at the SSAB Sei Oriana Gift Shop in Mangere. The launch also coincides during the week of Samoan Language Week which makes this a fitting event to be celebrated. Book launch details: Thursday 31 May 2018, 6pm SSAB Sei Oriana (Fale o Samoa Compound) FREE Event - Attendance by RSVP Only https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/o-le-vaa-folau-book-launch-event-tickets-46067317587 Published by Samoa Observer 21/02/2018 The Samoa branch of the Samoa Business Network (S.B.N.) kicked off 2018 with their first networking event of the year at the Tusitala Tanoa Hotel on Tuesday evening.
They welcomed special guest and speaker, Tofilau Esther Tofilau-Tevaga, a New Zealand based entrepreneur to speak to their members. S.B.N. Samoa Chairperson, Afamasaga Jackie Curry, said at the start of the evening, they acknowledged their members of their business community who were affected by Tropical Cyclone Gita and that the evening was dedicated to motivating and inspiring their network during hard times and revealing their plans for 2018. Tofilau is a business woman, entrepreneur, community leader and politician in New Zealand. She spent seven years running her finance company which had branches in New Zealand and Australia and then made a career change and now runs a successful health and wellness business. She is also a founding member and President of Pacific Bodybuilding and was the first Pacific female in the world to qualify as an I.F.B.B. bodybuilding judge. At the network event, her aim was to share her story as real and raw as it was at times. As a business woman, who wore a lot of hats, she has had successes in business over in Zealand as well as a lot of failures which she was very open about. Through sheer determination, Tofilau managed to overcome challenges by being creative and open to changes. She opened up about running a finance business that catered specifically to Pacific people and the challenges of balancing heart and head when it came to understanding Fa’a Samoa and managing a business. “Our members appreciated her honesty and also they appreciated the fact that she was honest about the challenges of dealing with the Pacific community,” Afamasaga said. “She’s pretty real about it in that you try and do something to help people but also realising sometimes people will try and take you down because you’re moving up, she was quite clear about that,” said Afamasaga. Tofilau encouraged the S.B.N. Executive to continue with their mission to connect Samoans all over the need in business and share resources to help build each other up in business. “I have achieved much more through determination and knowing that we can achieve anything in life that we put our mind too. A famous quote from Oprah said ‘Think like a Queen, a Queen is not afraid to fail; failure is another stepping stone to greatness’.” Afamasaga said having Tofilau to speak at their first event of the year really motivated their members and it was a good start to the year. “She just really set a good tone for us at the start of 2018, she really encouraged us as S.B.N. to keep connecting our people globally because she really believes in the saying ‘act locally, think globally’,” said Afamasaga. “She really supports our mission in connecting Samoans all over the world. She also encouraged us to always look out for other opportunities even though something hasn’t gone as well as we thought but still having that open mind about opportunities. She really encouraged working together, supporting each other, uplifting each other in business. It was so awesome what she had to share. For Samoa, she knows it’s a small market and she knows it’s very competitive and that rather than competing in a small market to look outwards and to think outside of Samoa. The world is so big and there is a big demand for our products.” “We just want to thank you to our main event sponsor, Tusitala Tanoa Hotel, for their continued support and offering an exclusive corporate rate to our members. Thank you to the Samoa Commercial Bank and we are so excited to partner with them because they want us to support small business growth in Samoa. Thank you to S.S.A.B. and Tofilau Fiti for her continued support of us, she really believes in the vision of the Samoa Business Network.” This year the S.B.N. plan have set their goals and among them is to set up a shared office space in Auckland, New Zealand, and work towards opening a distribution center in order to help enable their members who are thinking of exporting their products and keeping in line with their vision of “act locally and think globally”. Further to that, they are close to setting up a branch in Sydney, Australia and aiming to also start up branches in Melbourne and Brisbane. SAMOA OBSERVER http://www.samoaobserver.ws/en/21_02_2018/local/30291/Business-Network-sets-the-tone.htm Published by Samoa Observer 10 September, 2017 The Samoa Business Network is sticking by their mission to provide a platform for Samoan business people and entrepreneurs to connect with like minded people in Samoa and across the Pacific.
On Thursday they did just that when they invited New Zealand Samoan, Alex Fala, to be their special guest during a gathering at Taumeasina Island Resort. Alex Fala is the C.E.O of Vend. It is a scale up company that specialises in point of sale and accounting systems and is recognised as one of the fastest growing tech companies in New Zealand by Deloitte’s “Fast 50 companies of New Zealand in 2015”. The timing was perfect for Mr. Fala who was also here as one of the key speakers for the Pacific Wave Conference held at the Sheraton Samoa Aggie Grey’s on Friday. He was happy to share his journey and professional experiences with other aspiring and established entrepreneurs. “I can’t promise you wisdom but I will give you the truth,” he said at the start. He then proceeded to tell members about how an average kid with familial roots in Sa’asaai in Savai’i, but raised in the greater Wellington region, happened to find himself as a young C.E.O of a software company with a global workforce of 200 that handles tens of millions of dollars a year. Mr. Fala said he had enjoyed his work experience at Orion Software and Trademe in New Zealand leading up to his appointment at Vend and while his decision to take on a start up company was risky, it came out of a real desire to go global and be a part of a company that had international influence. During an interview with the Sunday Samoan, Mr. Fala shared his thoughts about what he thinks it takes to get ahead in the realm of international business. “A lot of it comes down to actually having faith in yourself and being self confident,” he said. “The sort of skills that you require to be successful are things like creativity, independence and taking risks. A lot of those things start from being self aware and understanding what your strengths are and then having the guts to go out there and do something with them. “So those skills needed have changed, and it’s no longer about working hard and getting a degree, ticking boxes and then things will come. To me the people that are really successful now are the ones who are able to bring together different ideas from different parts of their life and their experience and then also as I said, be prepared to take a chance.” Mr. Fala said he is excited about being in Samoa and that speaking at events such as the Samoa Business Network Evening and the Pacific Wave Conference satisfied an aspiration of his to give back especially to his own people. “The most important thing I want to do is give more than get stuff out of it,” he said. “I feel that I have been really privileged and lucky to be part of this wave of technological change and I feel lucky about that in N.Z. let a lone being in Samoa and I’m really excited about the changes in infrastructure that are going to enable a lot of changes in technology when then in turn enable business so really why I am at the Pacific wave Conference to do is to share my experiences and hopefully people can take something from that and also I hope to learn a little bit more about Samoa to see if there is an opportunity for me to help out somewhere along down the road.” Mr. Fala was well received by members of the Samoa Business Network who found his talk to be inspirational and informative. S.B.N Board member plan to bring in more speakers from around the region of Mr. Fala’s caliber. SAMOA OBSERVER Article - http://www.samoaobserver.ws/en/10_09_2017/local/24152/Successful-Samoan-shares-his-story.htm Boundless opportunities in Samoa exist for New Zealand investors willing to partner with local business, which can then lead to more prosperous communities. Samoa Trade Commissioner Fonoti Dr Lafitai Fuatai says these opportunities are not necessarily get-rich-quick schemes, but opportunities to be molded and nurtured over time to achieve the projected outcomes.
Earlier this month, the New Zealand Samoa Trade and Investment Commission (NZSTIC) staged a business mission to Apia, in association with the Samoa Trade Consulate, the Samoa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Samoa Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and the Samoa Business Network. NZSTIC Chairman Frank Po Ching says these organisations have a shared goal of facilitating more business opportunities between NZ and Samoa through NZ entities seeking Samoa strategic partners, products, and offering expert services. “The mission was very successful where all the companies represented on the mission had successful meetings with local partners and government agencies,” the Chairman adds. A cross-section of NZ businesses attended the mission, including representatives from telecommunications, training organisations, manufacturing industry, shipping industry and management consultancies. Throughout the week, the delegation attended a business forum; went on site visits; attended a function at the NZ High Commission, where the delegation met NZ High Commissioner to Samoa, HE David Nicholson. During the week, companies arranged individual meetings with local partners, government officials and agencies and attended a Samoa Business Network function, providing ample time to network and nurture existing relationships. The highlight of the mission for NZSTIC, was seeing NZ companies make solid connections with potential partners, Frank adds. A key outcome from the mission has been gaining Samoa’s support for a proposed beef model farm project, which has been on the table for a few years. “NZSTIC is working toward making this project a reality as it will bring tremendous economic benefit to Samoa,” Frank says. “The next step is to discuss with the New Zealand Government about its support for the project which was initially pledged some six years ago, but nothing happened. “NZSTIC is now pushing this project toward a business case phase but its needs initial funding from the New Zealand Government for this to happen.” The Commission is anticipating a meeting with Prime Minister Bill English to discuss the project, the Chairman adds. Business missions of this type predominantly benefit NZ companies and therefore the NZ economy for the most part, Frank says. “The Samoa Government and Samoa Chamber of Commerce have been very supportive of this mission, as well as last year’s mission - this support is both financial and in managing logistics. “NZSTIC is very grateful for the support from Samoa, and future business missions to Samoa will be scheduled every two years or on a need-to-basis.” (Picture caption: This year's Business Mission to Samoa delegation.) PACIFIC COOPERATION FOUNDATION - https://pcf.org.nz/news/2017-06-23/samoa-shows-support-for-nz-investment |
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September 2018
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