Speech
Asia New Zealand honorary advisers dinner
I begin by greeting everyone in the languages of the realm of New Zealand, in English, Māori, Cook Island Māori, Niuean, Tokelauan and New Zealand Sign Language. Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and as it is the evening (Sign)
I then specifically greet you: Hon Philip Burdon, Chair of the Asia New Zealand Foundation and trustees (some erstwhile) of the Foundation, Trish Carter, Peter Chin, Gavin Ellis, Lex Henry, Raymond Huo, Professor Manying Ip, Rt Hon Sir Donald McKinnon, Tony Nowell, Michael Park, Vini Ramayah, David Rishworth, and Wally Stone; Dr Richard Grant, Executive Director of the Foundation and your staff; Your Worship Len Brown, Mayor of Auckland; Asia New Zealand Honorary Advisers: Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development; Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister of Education for Singapore; Ms Li Xiaolin, Vice-President of Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries; Dr Raghupati Singhania, Managing Director of JK Industries; Ms Ton-Nu-Thi Ninh, President of the Founding Committee of the Tri Viet International University; Mr Firdaus Siddik, President Commissioner of Petroseas; Mr Soichiro Fukutake, Chairman and Chief Executive of Benesse Corporation; Mr Stanley Tan Poh Leng, Chief Executive of Angliss Property Group; Dr Ajva Taulananda, Vice-Chairman of True Corporation; Mr Tran Ba Tuoc, Senior Adviser of Tan Thuan Industrial Promotion; Distinguished Guests otherwise and you comprise a number of senior people in business, the professions and service clubs; Ladies and Gentlemen.
In the context of this illustrious gathering, may I add the following greetings: Sawatdi; Nî hâo; Namaste; Chào bạn; Selamat and Konnichi wa.
As Governor-General of New Zealand, and as Patron of the Asia New Zealand Foundation, it is with great pleasure that my wife Susan and I welcome you all to Government House Auckland for this dinner in honour of the Foundation’s honorary advisers.
To our overseas guests, while many of you are well acquainted with New Zealand and many have visited before, I trust you may also have the opportunity to experience a little more of our country while you are here. You sit at tables whose emblems are native New Zealand trees reflecting our country’s unique flora – Kauri, Kowhai, Pohutukawa, and Totara
I would like to take an opportunity to comment briefly on New Zealand’s relationship with Asia, on the role of the Foundation and on the valuable work undertaken by its honorary advisers.
Two years ago, we hosted a dinner for the Foundation in Government House Wellington at which I noted that the Asian community in New Zealand—and the Asia New Zealand Foundation—could be said to have come of age.
That statement spoke of more than just the physical numbers of New Zealanders of Asian descent who now proudly call this country their home.
It also meant more than the matter of numbers impacting on New Zealand. It reflected a contribution made by them that spans sport and cultural endeavours and business, politics, education, academia and central as well as local government.
For two examples, six members of New Zealand’s Parliament, one of whom is with us this evening, are of Asian ancestry. Likewise His Worship Meng Foon serves as Mayor of Gisborne and Dame Sukhinder Turner and Peter Chin have served as the Mayor of Dunedin. I could easily spend a considerable time reading out a long list of names but in deference to our waiting dinner will forebear from that and ask you to take my word
Another key factor has been a change of attitude by New Zealanders more generally towards the Asian Diaspora. There has been a growing wider acceptance of New Zealand being an entire nation of migrants. As the notable historian, the late Dr Michael King, expressed it: "In a country inhabited for a mere one thousand years, everybody is an immigrant or a descendant of immigrants."
The view that more recent migrants should somehow discard their culture for that of the dominant group no longer holds sway, either in public policy or with the public more widely, notwithstanding an occasional letter to a newspaper editor to the contrary.
Asian people, like migrants from throughout the world, have integrated into New Zealand to a large extent retaining their own cultural heritage while enriching New Zealand's cultural mix. In turn, contemporary New Zealanders have come to embrace festivals such as Diwali and the Chinese New Year as New Zealand based celebrations of Asian heritage and culture.
There are a number of factors behind this change. One of them is the signal contribution made by the Asia New Zealand Foundation. The Foundation has over 15 years established a widely respected reputation for its role in improving the relationship of New Zealand and New Zealanders with Asia. It has achieved this through advocacy and research, through husbanding contacts and its involvement with a wide range of activities to foster links, here in New Zealand and there in Asia in business, media and education.
On the other side of the ledger, hand-in-hand with the changes within New Zealand, I believe it is fair to say that New Zealand’s relationship with Asia has also come of age.
In part, this has been driven by a practical realisation of Asia’s gigantic development and its growing influence in the wider world. I have in mind the point well made by the Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, during a visit to Beijing in 2008 when he noted: "We are at an exciting point in history when the centre of gravity of the world economy is moving towards Asia."
This fundamental strategic shift in geo-political and economic power has not been lost on the New Zealand Government or on New Zealanders. The wider Asian region is playing an ever more important role in New Zealand’s international relationships. China and India, for example, are expected to be the world’s two biggest economies by 2050 and six of New Zealand’s top 10 trading partners are in Asia.
As a nation that relies on trade for its prosperity, New Zealand is particularly aware of the strategic importance of widening and deepening its relationship with its Asian counterparts. While there have been occasional bumps in the road, building on many long-standing relationships and links, the progress has been significant. The signing of the Free Trade Agreement with China in 2008, for example, was just one of a number of significant waypoints on that journey to date.
New Zealand is now negotiating an Free Trade Agreement with India and is working to expand the P4 Agreement between New Zealand, Brunei Darussalam, Chile and Singapore into a wider Trans-Pacific agreement. Those negotiations involve a potential membership to include Australia, Malaysia, Peru, the United States, and Viet Nam.
In deepening New Zealand’s relationship with Asia, I believe that the people-to-people links will play a crucial role. For example, when in Beijing two years ago to support the New Zealand athletes attending the Olympic Games I was advised of the estimate of the number of Chinese students who had studied in New Zealand from 2000 to 2008 was in the 6 figure range. In other words and in New Zealand terms a figure exceeding the population of Wellington the alumni returning to China representing a significant positive constituency for New Zealand and New Zealand interests in China.
Likewise, as honorary advisers of the Asia New Zealand Foundation, you play an equally important role by enhancing understanding of New Zealand within your countries. It is almost impossible to quantify the value of the work you do in facilitating relationships, providing contacts and references and opening doors to key New Zealand officials and businesspeople. You also provide a valuable sounding board for the Foundation as it undertakes its work in New Zealand and in Asia.
As Patron and former Deputy Chairman of the Foundation as a trustee, I would like to place on the record my gratitude, and that of the wider organisation, for your efforts. Those efforts are, you may be assured, greatly appreciated.
And on that note of thanks, I will close in New Zealand’s first language Māori, by offering everyone greetings and wishing you all good health and fortitude in your endeavours. No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa.