Making Business Easier between Hong Kong and New Zealand

Hong Kong-New Zealand Closer Economic Partnership

This is your chance to put forward ideas and experiences which can help formulate agreements to make doing business between the countries more effective and efficient.

I have been asked to attend a roundtable discussion with the New Zealand Negotiation team on Mon 2 March.

If you are reading this after that date still let me know your ideas as there will be other opportunities to feed into the negotiations.

Looking forward to hearing your ideas on what barriers, difficulties or frustrations you have had or heard about in providing products or services in Hong Kong.

Here is a little more background.

New Zealand commenced a 'Closer Economic Partnership' (CEP) negotiation with Hong Kong in 2001. Talks were suspended in late 2002 after five rounds of negotiation. The two countries maintained a constructive relationship over the intervening years, supported by close business, educational and other ties. Following informal discussions, both Parties have agreed to resume negotiations towards a CEP and they are hopeful that it will be possible to find a way through the difficulties which led to the suspension.

Officials will meet in Hong Kong in early March 2009 for preparatory discussions with the first full round of resumed negotiations planned to take place in New Zealand in late April/early May.

Businesses and stakeholders with an interest in Hong Kong are encouraged to provide feedback on their areas of particular interest. This feedback will be taken into account as the mandate for resumed negotiations is determined.

If you prefer you can also direct your suggestions to MFAT directly and get additional information via http://www.mfat.govt.nz/Trade-and-Economic-Relations/Trade-Agreements/Hong-Kong/index.php

Now if you are a Hong Kong person who has had difficulties doing business in New Zealand then the NZ government is keen to hear your stories so that they can make things easier for you.

Looking forward to reading your comments and taking them to the discussions.

Grow well
Dr Merrin

Pachamama

Have you ever looked at how you make decisions?

Of course you have.

Have you ever reviewed the rules you use to make the decisions. I discovered a group called the Pachamama Alliance (http://www.pachamama.org/) who utilise the following three “criteria” together to consider how you are ensuring that we are creating a World that is:
- Environmentally Sustainable
- Spiritually Fulfilling, and
- Socially Just

They ask the questions:
- Where are we?
- How did we get here?
- What is possible for the future?
- Where do we go from here?

They run a really engaging and enlightening symposium called "Awaken the Dreamer". You have the chance of being part of one of the upcomiing symposiums, check where via http://www.triumphantevents.com/worldtour

Here is a trailer about the symposium.


Back in October I attended the symposium and became a trained facilitator of the program along with some other wonderful Hong Kong people. Check us out with Jon Symes!


Grow well
Dr Merrin

A great experience with the locals

What a pleasure it was to return to the Eastern Bay of Plenty from Hong Kong last week. The blue skies and the blue water were certainly part of the joy, though even more impressive was the friendliness of the locals. Having been born in Edgecumbe and with parents still living in EBOP it is not like I am not familiar with the locals.

What motivated me to write this email was a particularly great experience at the Thornton river bar last week. The kahawai were running and there were folks there reeling them in with great smiles. I was standing there amongst them watching the fish in the waves wishing I had come down with the rod. All of a sudden, one of the guys as he was carrying another fish to his stash asked me if I liked fish. I said yeah and with that he handed me the fish! Wow you can imagine the size of my smile and the amazement on my mother’s face. We got chatting to the guy and he said his name was “Tired” which seemed a strange name, especially when his wife was waist deep in the waves catching the fish!!! Next minute he was passing me another two fish. Here I was now standing amongst the fisher folk with 3 fish and no rod!

Thanking him and saying we were leaving he said something looks wrong, you need two fish in each hand so with that the next fish from his wife’s rod was passed to us. That has got to be one of my greatest moments of sharing I have experienced with a stranger. You should have seen the look on my wife’s face when we got back to the car!!!

So a big thanks to “Tired”, the smoked kahawai tasted superb.

Grow well
Merrin