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:pacific privilege Pacific Privileg e Why you should consider mentoring a pacific business YOU���RE LIVING IN A Pacific country. For many of us that statement is non-controversial, particularly for the 260,000 New Zealanders that can call on cultural heritage and roots from any one of the 28 countries or territories that make up the Pacific Islands��� region. If it���s news to you, you are not alone. Every year, I meet people who do not associate New Zealand and the Pacific region as being integral to each other. Those long forgotten compulsory social studies classes of our youth may have mentioned that New Zealand is geographically part of the Pacific triangle, but what does that mean in the 21st century when foreign policy settings increasingly look north to the tiger economies in Asia for growth? Do we tend to sometimes skip over, miss-out or forget about our long association and connection with the ���large ocean states��� of the Southern, Western and Northern Pacific? What���s our place in the neighbourhood? As a person of Samoan/New Zealand descent who grew up in a century where New Zealand began embracing its cultural complexity, I have come to realise (obviously before reaching age 10) that not everyone is Samoan, Tongan, Cook Islands, Fijian, Niuen, Ni-Vanuatu, I-Kiribati or Tokelauncentric. In my professional career, I���ve had the privilege of travelling widely and working in the Pacific region. Our connections 30 | www.h e rma gaz i n e . c o. n z are not just people-to-people, historical or post-colonial. There are thousands of Kiwis working and playing in the Pacific each year and two-way trade is consistently over $1.2billion in goods alone. Every year, thousands of Kiwis venture ���home��� or travel for leisure in the region. And there is a return flow as well. One of the best initiatives New Zealand has developed over the past decade is the recognised seasonal employer scheme that sees on average 6000 temporary workers, many of them youth from the Pacific, travelling to New Zealand to participate in our horticultural and viticulture industries before returning home. Horticulture New Zealand has said it is ���the single greatest improvement in the sector��� that they have been involved with. Over the period of the scheme, exports in the fruit and vegetable industry have increased by $1.1billion. The International Labour Organisation describes the scheme as an example of best practice seasonal migration because it is a ���triple win���. It benefits workers and employers, and regulates the use of illegal labour in some industries. And the Pacific is trending. The success of ���Me���a Kai: Food and Flavours of the South Pacific��� 2011 gourmand world food cookbook of the year, showcasing cuisine from six Pacific nations with internationally renowned chef Robert Oliver, is a case in point. A Gourmand Ambassador with over a decade of international restaurant experience, Robert understands soul food and the value of local produce and artisan products and gives a nod towards the future of regional fusion. Robert���s return home in 2013 will see Pacific cuisine on a new platform including a restaurant launch and television series. The Pacific Showcase that launched the Cloud in 2011, presented the best of regional culture, design, travel and cuisine in an appropriate