Ethnic Whispers February 2010

Foreword

Nin hao – Greetings in Chinese and welcome to the February edition of ‘Ethnic Whispers’.

Time flies - Parliament is in session again and the Minister of Finance’s uplifting statement has put economic growth as a priority.

Coincidently, the Asia New Zealand Foundation has just released the annual ‘Perception of Asia’ survey that showed New Zealanders feel very positive about Asia as an export market with significant opportunities for New Zealand exporters from free trade agreements between New Zealand and Asian countries. Asian communities are also seen as bringing an economic contribution to our country.

Indeed, our ethnic communities are made up of individuals with aspirations, energy and potential. Think of the tremendous benefits when their skills and talents are fully utilised.

The talent, skills and connections of our ethnic communities are important for the prosperity of our nation. Ethnic business has never been a more important economic partner for New Zealand.

We are a small export-driven and trade dependent economy. Because of this, the Office of Ethnic Affairs is working to maximise the expertise and connections of ethnic communities to grow New Zealand’s economy.

To do this, the Office is holding a series of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) business forums, to showcase our ethnic entrepreneurs and connect with the wider business community.

We need to empower ethnic communities to participate in all aspects of New Zealand life and support our multiethnic and multifaith society. We also need to maintain social harmony through civic participation. In this issue, you will read about Divya Dhar, originally from India, our Young New Zealander of the Year, who is committed to bringing attention to social injustices.

We focus on our six-weekly Refugee and Migrant Forums. Three years ago, the Office took over the convenorship of the forum and now run these in partnership with Local Government and Community, a business unit of the Department of Internal Affairs.

We also follow up on our Muslim community’s, Building Bridges programme in Christchurch. Established in 2005, The Office of Ethnic Affairs and the New Zealand’s Muslim communities continue to deliver and build on this programme in other regions around the country.

Hon Pansy Wong
Minister for Ethnic Affairs

Divya Dhar: Young New Zealander of the Year

Young New Zealander of the Year, Divya Dhar, was chosen for her passionate action against global poverty.

An Auckland-based first year doctor, Divya Dhar’s passion is helping poverty-stricken people. Her aim is to make a difference to extremely poor countries and families within those countries through her involvement with the Global Poverty Project. The Global Poverty Project is a community education group that aims to increase awareness and action in regards to extreme poverty. She has recently founded the P3 Foundation - aiming to mobilise young people to break the poverty cycle both in New Zealand and overseas. P3 stands for three ‘P’s - Prosperity, Peace and Progress.

During her medical elective, Divya met two young girls from the poorest, flood-ridden regions of India and Costa Rica. She felt their stories were emotionally uplifting, and yet they were not able to dream of a better life. She knew then that she wanted to make a difference to their lives. On her return to New Zealand, and after hearing about the Global Poverty Project, she realised this would be the right direction for assisting the disadvantaged poor in life.

The Office of Ethnic Affairs congratulates Divya on her achievements and is committed to highlighting stories of contributions made by ethnic New Zealanders in a range of spheres, such as economy, volunteering and research.

The Year of the Tiger - off with a roar

The Office of Ethnic Affairs celebrates many important holidays. They range from Eid festivals, and Christmas to Diwali, the festival of lights.

But for the more than 100,000 ethnic Chinese who call New Zealand home, the first day of January is in many ways just that – the first day of January.

Although it’s the Year of the Tiger and the tiger is a strong independent beast, it was the lion that entertained the 200-strong crowd gathered in Parliament’s Banquet Hall on 17 February. The Chinese Ambassador, His Excellency Zhang Limin, Prime Minister John Key and Minister for Ethnic Affairs Pansy Wong enjoyed the performances of the Wellington Lion Dancers and the Ansai Waist Drummers in their traditional costumes.

Their inspiring performances are meant to promote harmony and well-being while clearing the way for good luck and good fortune for 2010.

Building Bridges expands in the south

In late January, the Office met with the working party of the Christchurch Muslim communities Building Bridges programme. Members represent the Muslim Association of Canterbury, FIANZ and the Nawawi Center and other Muslim communities.

The priorities of the Muslim community for the Building Bridges work are: strategic leadership, positive visibility, media, youth and women.

The Office of Ethnic Affairs and the Muslim community established the following engagement principles as part of a framework for future collaboration: respect, inclusion, empowerment and participation. This is done through a series of training workshops, forums and activities that help raise visibility of Muslims and their contributions to New Zealand.

The New Year meeting was held to establish clearer communication mechanisms between the Muslim community in Christchurch and the Office, to develop dialogue and information sharing.

FIANZ Economic Forum – 11 March 2010

New Zealand, trade and the Muslim world.

The Office of Ethnic Affairs is organising a forum for 11 March that will focus on trade and the Muslim world. It will look at what trade currently exists and what opportunities can be built. It will include representatives from the industry such as Fonterra and the Meat Industry Association as well as looking at the Muslims in New Zealand who provide assistance in terms of connections and cultural knowledge.

Entry is by invitation only - please contact Asma Bashir, Senior Ethnic Affairs Advisor on 09 362 7996 or email Asma.Bashir@dia.govt.nz

Waikato Chamber of Commerce – ‘Business before 8’- Thursday 18 March

Business people will hear Sonja Tepavac, from the Office of Ethnic Affairs, present the business case for employing staff that have moved to the Waikato from overseas. They bring with them a wealth of skills, expertise, knowledge, motivation and connections.

They will also hear the experience of a local business, EduMaxi when Madelize Bekker talks about her experience accessing and consequently employing interns from the Hamilton Multicultural Services Trust Migrant Internship Programme.

We hope you will come along and enjoy the flavours and sounds of the world while networking.

Venue: Bill Gallagher Centre, Wintec, Tristram Street, Gate 5, Hamilton, 7.30-9am.

Businesses wishing to attend or learn more about the Waikato Chamber of Commerce should call Briana on (07) 839 8530.

ASEAN Business Forum kicks off in February

In mid-February, the Office of Ethnic Affairs hosted an ASEAN business event in Auckland. It was attended by about 40 members of the migrant community in Auckland. The Office is an essential conduit for making connections across ethnic and mainstream interests, including connecting them with government. Our role involves generating platforms for engagement and making the most of our trade links with the ASEAN region.

Migrants bring with them cultural expertise and international connections. Today, approximately 18 percent of New Zealand’s population speaks two or more languages. They also bring with them new and innovative ideas and ways of doing things, which provide us with a competitive advantage in terms of tapping into Asian markets. The February event was an opportunity for business leaders in the ASEAN community to meet and discuss opportunities and make connections. The Office received considerable positive feedback from attendees at the first forum.

ASEAN Business Forum: Better Business Together – March 2010

The next forum is planned for mid-March. This ASEAN Business Forum event is timely, given the recent signing of the Free Trade Agreement with Malaysia. We also have Free Trade Agreements with China, Malaysia, and Close Economic Partnerships (CEP) with Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong. In addition, New Zealand and Australia have a Free Trade Agreement with ten ASEAN nations, called the ASEAN Australia/New Zealand Free Trade Agreement.

Community Economic Development Conference

Approximately 350 people from all over New Zealand attended this conference organised by the Christchurch Small Business Enterprise Centre and Community Waitakere. The conference, held at Waitakere in February, offered presentations on new approaches to social enterprise, and conventional approaches to local economic development. Attendees included bankers, economists, environmentalists and business analysts.

Three members of the Office attended the conference as part of the Strengthening NGOs project. This project is designed to build organisations’ capacities to provide settlement services to their communities and encourage NGOs to be more self-sufficient. It was recognised that New Zealand needs more social innovation and this conference was held to encourage not-for-profit organisations to combine innovation and enterprise with long-term sustainability.

Vivien Verheijen, from the Office of Ethnic Affairs, was inspired by this conference with its thoughtful structure, timing and profound theme. “I hope that in the future, the Office of Ethnic Affairs can work with other relevant stakeholders to provide a platform for ethnic communities in terms of social enterprise and community economic development,” said Vivien.

The conference explored new ways of identifying how to build vibrant local economies and included speakers from Scotland, England, Canada and Australia.

Bridging the gap - focus on a member of our community

Mitchell Pham led the Augen Software Group into Asia in 2005, when the group established an Asian software services centre in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Augen is now leveraging its Asian connections and its resource base in Vietnam to support New Zealand software companies in growing their products and services, structuring their businesses for speed-to-market and expansion into Asia.

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