Auckland waterfront format. A weekly showcase and marketplace will
be launched from February 2013 down at the Cloud and you pick
up local Pacific artisan products in addition to experiencing the best
the region has to offer. The launch of True Pacific, a quality mark
for top exporters from the region and ATEED���s move to brand their
local Pacific events in a month of activities, will see the arts, cultural
heritage and the New Zealand/Pacific context promoting the Pacific
in a highly visual way. From a popular culture perspective, New
Zealand/Pacific and regional talent is vibrant in the arts and extremely
well represented in sports.
I work with 25 of the top Pacific businesses exporting quality
food and spa products to New Zealand and markets around the
world. These businesses are market savvy, have supply chains that
are enviable and leverage the value of their brands and the natural
qualities unique to the Pacific region to market their competitive edge
to the world. When engaging with success stories every day, it���s easy to
see that a paradigm shift about the way we, as New Zealanders, look
at the region is needed. The common lenses tend to be deficit based
and I am not ignoring these. I can simply put them into context
and consider areas of wider resilience. I haven���t mentioned that the
Pacific Ocean is the largest carbon sink in the world or that the tuna
fishery is one of the world���s largest shared resources. Other common
filters include: natural disasters, political issues or poverty. As a small
island nation in Australasia, New Zealand has common challenges
on all of these fronts. What New Zealand also has is a thriving food
basket mentality to smart exports, value chains that are looking long
term into China and a wealth of knowledge about how to grow small
business capability.
I encourage you over the New Year, as we look to analyse areas
for personal and professional growth, to get curious about the
neighbourhood in which we all live. If you don���t have a Pacific
regional experience, get out and embrace the opportunity to travel.
Melanesia is extremely diverse in comparison to Polynesia and if you
love to dive, Micronesia is amazing. If you love the region and you
want to connect, there are multiple ways to get involved. Mentoring
a business, buying ���local��� and including the high quality Pacific
products or produce in your cuisine choices, or increasing your
network to include regional businesses are all viable options.
Markerita Poutasi
Chief Executive, Pacific Cooperation Foundation
www.pcf.org.nz
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