Asia New Zealand Young Leaders Forum 2009

May 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. Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and, as it is the evening [sign].

May I then specifically greet you: Hon Philip Burdon, Chairman of the Asia New Zealand Foundation, your fellow board members and Executive Director Dr Richard Grant; Your Excellency, Justice Rubin, High Commissioner for Singapore; Your Excellency Mr Amris Hassan, Ambassador of Indonesia; Your Excellency, Mr Toshihiro Takahashi, Ambassador of Japan; Your Excellency, Mr Vuong Hai Nam, Ambassador of Viet Nam; Your Excellency Mr Kwang-Il Noh, Ambassador of Korea; Your Excellency Dato Hasnudin Hamzah, High Commissioner for Malaysia; other members of the Diplomatic Corps; Karen Sewell, Chief Executive of the Ministry of Education; Your Worship Kerry Prendergast, Mayor of Wellington; distinguished guests otherwise; Forum participants; ladies and gentlemen.

It has been with pleasure that my wife Susan and I have accepted the invitation to attend this dinner at the conclusion of the 4th meeting of Asia New Zealand Foundation Young Leaders Forum.  We have attended Forum dinners twice in recent times and it is good to connect with the 2009 Forum participants.

It has been a delight this evening to see the work undertaken in response to the challenge given them by the organisers to produce three films.  What has come to the fore is an understanding of the importance of Asia to New Zealand.  Congratulations are due on that score and that is the matter I shall now develop.

I want to emphasise what has been done by referring to the significance of the Young Leaders Forum.  I see the Forum and its participants as playing a most important part in the continuing development of relations between New Zealand and the Asia-Pacific region.

My precise interest in the Forum rests on a number of factors.  The first is personal in that being born in Auckland, with parents born in Fiji and grandparents born in India, I am another New Zealander with an international background.

Secondly, I have long had a personal interest in international relations which has included association with the Asia New Zealand Foundation, the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs and Transparency International.  Since being appointed Governor-General in 2006, there has been, as part of that role, a continuing emphasis on furthering international relations through Susan and I welcoming visiting Heads of State to New Zealand and, being asked by the Government to represent our country's interests overseas - including in Asian settings.

Finally, I have a special interest in this particular organisation.  As a long-time former board member and now Asia New Zealand Foundation Patron, I have seen it grow and flourish to become a key player in connecting New Zealand with Asia and vice versa.

A key initiative for the Foundation is the Young Leaders Forum.  Reading the profiles of this year's 30 forum participants there emerges a common thread of people who have already been successful in a variety of fields: law, accounting , business, politics, art and culture.  What each of you do and may plan to do will be of benefit in developing relations between New Zealand and Asia.  Many of you have what can be called well-developed intercultural skills to help in this regard.  Above all, each participant demonstrates some kind of commitment to developing the relationship between New Zealand and Asia.  Each person appears to have understood how increasingly important this relationship is going to be in the future.

Asia is an integral part of contemporary New Zealand and in the future this will be even more so.  Compared with say 25 years ago, the lives of most New Zealanders will be touched by an Asian connection of some kind. These relationships will become more significant, not just to New Zealand but to all countries in our region.

For example, the 2006 Census found that nearly one in 10 New Zealanders were of Asian descent while in the Auckland region that figure was almost twice that number.  The size of Asian communities in our country has increased significantly in the last decade. 

Another observation is provided by information from the Foundation that the value of New Zealand exports to Asia is now greater than that exported to what were called our more country's traditional markets.  Half of our top 20 export markets are in Asia; one third of our tourism revenue comes from Asian visitors; and 80 percent of international students at schools, polytechnics or universities are from Asian countries.

With this kind of information in mind, the importance of dialogue, exchange and co-operation cannot be overstated.  At the heart of this engagement are links created by personal contact.  Those links vary from formal trade and enterprise relationships to cultural exchanges, from free trade agreements to sister city relationships to business arrangements, personal journeys and purchases.  Somewhere in the middle of this are events such as the Young Leaders Forum.  In this, a number of people with the potential to be future leaders, meet to discuss issues and ideas, to deepen their understanding of each other's cultures and to make enduring, productive friendships.

You, our Forum participants, were given an assignment this week which you have successfully completed.  As you finish, I now have a challenge for you myself, which is to build on the enthusiasm that you have already demonstrated yourselves and to now interest and energise the activities of others.  There is a need for more of you to be found to contribute to developing a prosperous future in the relationship between New Zealand and Asia.

In conclusion, I congratulate the Foundation on its ongoing work and the Forum participants for your involvement and for building a better understanding of the relationship between New Zealand and Asia.  As the Prime Minister, Hon John Key, told a gathering at Peking University in Beijing in April, those relationships will be vital for the future.  While his comments were specifically directed at a Chinese audience, I believe they apply more widely:

"True friendship occurs when you can speak your mind and walk away from it and still be friends. It is my hope that can be the case for us.  After all, there is much at stake. In these challenging times, citizens throughout the world have become very aware of the unprecedented levels of interconnectedness in the global economy. Some see this interconnectedness as a weakness. I do not, and my sense is that China does not either."

And on a note, which combines congratulation with confidence in the future, I will close now in New Zealand's first language, Māori, offering 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.

To find out more about the Young Leader's Forum, click here