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Ethnic Whispers March 2010


Foreword

Hon Pansy Wong

Olà, (Greetings in Portuguese). The keys to building a prosperous economy for a small population country such as ours are hard work, determination and ingenuity in terms of thinking outside the box.

That is why the Office of Ethnic Affairs is organising business forums with a difference; to tap into the expertise and international relationships of our ethnic communities.

In March, the Office of Ethnic Affairs facilitated and co-hosted the Trade and the Muslim World Forum and the ASEAN Business Forum – both of which allowed Ethnic business people to discuss export ideas and opportunities with the wider business community.

As a country of just four million people, it is crucial that we utilise the skills of all our citizens and the great potential that lies within our ethnic communities in terms of growing business opportunities arising from the Free Trade Agreements signed with ASEAN, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and China.

We are also in negotiations with India and have concluded negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council, which shows there is great room for growth within our economy.

In today’s world, relationships between nations, peoples, and cultures are essential and it is important that we continue to utilise the relationships that exist within our ethnic communities and unleash our economy’s full potential.

One of my top priorities as Minister for Ethnic Affairs is to maximise the talents, skills and connections of our ethnic communities to grow New Zealand’s economy.

As more needs and opportunities arise, more forums and opportunities like these will be planned by the Office of Ethnic Affairs as our nation continues to emerge from the recession.

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ASEAN Business Leaders Forum - opportunities for growth

A number of top ASEAN business leaders attended this forum in March. The event was hosted by the Minister for Ethnic Affairs, Hon Pansy Wong, in association with the ASEAN New Zealand Combined Business Council and Asia New Zealand Foundation. Minister for Trade, Hon Tim Groser welcomed everyone to the forum.

Minister Wong opened the think-tank dialogue session, which explored how ASEAN business leaders and New Zealand businesses can benefit from working collaboratively to find practical solutions.

A number of well-known New Zealand business leaders from both mainstream and ASEAN communities featured as panellists at the event. Sylvia Cheah, Partner at Hesketh Henry, Paul White Managing Director, Beca International and Mitchell Pham, Director of Augen, spoke, as did business journalist Rod Oram.

Sylvia Cheah said, “The Office of Ethnic Affairs is vital in this. It’s the bridge: it has the ear of the Minister and the Government and it has deep roots in the ethnic communities and the most important ministries. It can make this thing happen.

The Forum was absolutely necessary. It was time for the different parties with an interest in our trade with the ASEAN countries to get together and get some dialogue going. Asian business people needed this kind of forum to interact with the Minister and she needed to hear what we had to say in order to take our ideas to her cabinet colleagues and to get some leverage off our free trade agreements.”

Government agencies that participated included the Department of Labour - New Zealand Immigration Services, Economic Development Agencies of New Zealand (funded by NZTE) and Auckland Chamber of Commerce. The Office of Ethnic Affairs continues to make connections across ethnic and mainstream business interests and to further our role generating platforms for engagement to make the most of our trade links is our economic focus.

Left to right: Mr Nontawat Chandrtri, H.E. Justice (Ret) Rubin, Minister for Ethnic Affairs, Hong Pansy Wong, H.E. Amris Hassan, Ambassador to Indonesia and H.E. Vuong Hai Nam back to top

New Zealand, trade and the Muslim world

The Office of Ethnic Affairs held a successful forum in mid March, focusing on New Zealand trade and the Muslim world.

The purpose of the forum was to look at what trade currently exists and to identify new opportunities. The forum featured representatives from Fonterra and the Meat Industry Association as well as Muslim New Zealanders, who provide assistance in terms of connections and cultural knowledge. The event was a success with a good turn out from people from within the industry.

Tim Ritchie, Chief Executive from the Meat Industry Association of New Zealand said "The forum was a great opportunity to reinforce the importance of trade with the Muslim world to this industry.

This trade had developed over the last 40 years and in 2009 halal meat was exported to more than 80 countries. Some of which was exported to Muslim Countries in the Middle East and Asia and the rest to non-Muslim countries but which had significant Muslim communities”, he said.

Dr Anwar Ghani, President of FIANZ was pleased with the results of the forum and said "It was a good meeting involving Muslim entrepreneurs, community leaders, business leaders and government policy agencies. The topics discussed provided opportunities to explore how New Zealand’s Muslim community can be a conduit to grow various sectors of New Zealand economy.”

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Waikato Chamber of Commerce - Business Before 8

In mid-March, Hamilton businesses rose early, to join the Chamber of Commerce at a breakfast meeting to hear the Office of Ethnic Affairs, presenting a business case for employing migrants in Waikato.

Research and real organisational examples (both international and New Zealand based) indicate that diversity in the workforce benefits businesses economically (and otherwise) by creating opportunities to access new markets and a new customer base. This in turn, increases innovation potential and improves the reputation of the organisation with customers, suppliers and shareholders.

The research conducted by the Department of Labour and Waikato University in 2009 identified the Waikato region as suppliers to one of New Zealand largest exporters (through their dairy industry).

Additionally, according to Statistics New Zealand, the ethnic population of Waikato has increased in the past and is likely to continue increasing in the future. This suggests that there can be opportunities for Waikato businesses to gain leverage from the region’s ethnic diversity.

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Race Relations Day 2010 – “It’s about us”

Race Relations Day was hosted by the Office of Ethnic Affairs at Te Papa on Monday 22 of March to a packed and enthusiastic audience.

In her welcoming address, the Minister for Ethnic Affairs, Pansy Wong, acknowledged the role of the Office of Ethnic Affairs.

“Mervin Singham and his team are working hard to ensure that all New Zealanders are able to contribute to and participate in all aspects of kiwi life – including the decision making of Government.”

She also officially launched the book, Longing and Belonging, by Dr Edwina Pio, which captures the thoughts and feelings of selected ethnic New Zealanders. This record includes people like Office of Ethnic Affairs Director Mervin Singham and Waitakere City Council CEO Vijaya Vaidyanath.

Rayhan Langdana, winner of 2009 Race Relations Day speech competition presented his winning speech, and Joris De Bres Race Relations Commissioner spoke about Race Relations in New Zealand.

Ambassador of Brazil to New Zealand, Renate Stille said: "As the Representative of a country proud of its racial diversity, it was very nice to see the level of interest generated in an evening aimed at promoting the understanding between peoples from diverse origins. I commend the Office of Ethnic Affairs for organising the event."

The 2010 broad theme “It’s about us” - Whanau, family, aiga, evolved from the Human Rights Commission’s Race Relations Day 2009.

Left to right: Associate Professor Edwina Pio, Director of the Office of Ethnic Affairs Mervin Singham and CEO of the Waitakere City Council Vijaya Vaidyanath back to top

PolyFest Auckland

The Office of Ethnic Affairs has been supporting the Auckland PolyFest for a number of years and this year is no different. New Zealand’s largest Maori and Pacific Island cultural performance festival attracted 210 groups from 63 high schools throughout the Auckland region to the Manakau Sports Bowl. The aim of the festival is to bring young people and communities of all different backgrounds together, to celebrate their unique cultures through song and dance.

For the first time, the Auckland Secondary Schools festival has included African groups on its very popular Diversity Stage. This also features Indian, Filipino, Chinese, Sri Lankan, Malaysian and many other ethnic groups and has grown from 44 groups in 2006, to 54 cultural groups today.

National Operations Manager for the Office of Ethnic Affairs Deborah Lam said “The Office supports this event because it encourages strong civic participation in New Zealand life and it lifts awareness of the cultural benefits of ethnic diversity for all New Zealanders.

We are proud to be associated with the Diversity Stage as this provides an opportunity for New Zealand’s young ethnic people to showcase their vibrant cultural heritage alongside Maori and Pasifika youth.”

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Language Line helps with BreastScreen Aotearoa message

The Office of Ethnic Affairs is taking some practical steps to help bring clear communications to an important issue in the health sector.

As a pilot, we have recorded some BreastScreen Aotearoa messages in five languages; Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Hindi and Arabic. These are to be on the National Screening Unit, BreastScreen Aotearoa website www.nsu.govt.nz

The message advises women aged 45 to 69 years that free breast screening is provided by the national breast screening programme, BreastScreen Aotearoa.

Language Line manager Diana Clark, says these messages are just the beginning and will lead to more information in more languages.

“We felt it was time to do something like this. Not only do some of the women from the communities not understanding that prevention is the New Zealand approach to health but often they are also hampered by their own shyness and modesty. In illnesses like breast cancer, time is important and if we can get them to have mammograms and to self check, we can reduce the length of time before they seek treatment.”

The messages will be available at the National Screening Unit website from April. The Office of Ethnic Affairs will advise the communities of this new initiative.

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Some things you need to know about New Zealand

The Office of Ethnic Affairs is doing a series of messages about important things you need to know living in New Zealand. Keep an eye on this spot to read about a different topic each month.

Obey the fishing rules – and there'll be seafood for everyone.

New Zealand's coastlines, rivers, lakes and seas give us healthy food and the enjoyment that comes from collecting or catching our dinner in a clean natural environment. However we can only keep doing this by making sure we take only what we are allowed. Take more, and not only do you break the law, you take away the enjoyment of this lifestyle from our children and grandchildren. It is important that everyone acts responsibly and helps conserve the resource. Here are some things you need to know:

The important things to remember are:

Don’t:

BUT

Do

For further information:

Contact your nearest Ministry of Fisheries office which you can find in the front section of your local telephone book. A complete copy of the law (including the Fisheries Act 1996 and associated regulations) are available from Bennetts Government Bookshop or online at www.fish.govt.nz

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Bridging the gap - focus on a member of our community

Anna Fillipochkina - Russian Cultural Trust: Anna has just recently been awarded a Christchurch City Council civic award for services to Russian communities. In founding the Russian Cultural Centre Trust in 2000 and in the years since, she has helped immigrants from Russia and the former Soviet Union to integrate into New Zealand society. In that time she has worked towards her vision of the formation in Christchurch of a Slavonic-speaking community that contributes positively to all aspects of society.

Read more.

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