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

Planning for 2014

After looking at my goals for 2009 I thought that I really should articulate what I would like to achieve not just in the next year though also the next 5 years and actually for my life time. So Louise and I sat down and set out what are our life time vision and goals which you can see at http://asia-ecopreneur.blogspot.com/2009/01/vision-and-goals.html.

So with the big picture in place and my 1 year set of goals listed at http://asia-ecopreneur.blogspot.com/2009/01/goals-for-2009.html we both looked at our 5 years goals that take us to 2014 and here they are.

Merrin will:

• Be a successful international speaker providing key note addresses to business and community groups.
  
• Have financial freedom in terms of having income to support both Louise and himself .
  
• Be a published author of at least 5 books on motivation, taking action, extraordinary wildlife and travel that will have amazing co-authors and contributors.
  
• Have his own multimedia show (TV, Radio, Internet) that promotes individuals and businesses that are existing in a sustainable way with the worlds flora and fauna.
  
• Have “home bases” in New Zealand, Asia, Europe and Africa that we can travel to at any time. One will be near the ocean, another near lakes and mountains, another in a central cosmopolitan area and the other in a wildlife reserve.
  
• Be part of forest/wilderness restoration projects in 10 countries that have helped sustain / protect critically endangered species.
  
• Be a sort after facilitator in the environmental and surveying fields.

Grow well
Dr Merrin

Vision and Goals

Merrin Pearse and Louise Taylor
Their Lifetime Goals and Vision

Passion Statement
We love being outdoors amongst nature, experiencing its marvels, learning from its examples and sharing these experiences and learning’s with others.

Purpose Statement
To connect people with the natural environment through providing opportunities to experience the wonders of nature first hand and how their daily lives (both work and private) can help support nature.

Personal Vision/Mission
To ensure that there is a worldwide network of nature reserves freely available for all people to visit. Imagine if you could not get to a park to hear birds singing happily from trees or to watch water cascading over rocks with fish swimming in the pools?

Why be involved initially in Asia?
As the world’s largest population centre, the mindset and respect for nature by people in Asia will have a significant influence over the health of our planet. The more sustainable that Asia is the more sustainable the world is. With the level of resources available in Hong Kong and with the right mindset we would love to see Hong Kong become Asia’s leading Eco-city.

What do we need to do?
Inspire and assist more people of the Asian region to be an active part of ending poverty and environmental degradation, while creating results in their personal and business lives that are fulfilling and environmentally sustainable.

Who do we need to connect with?
Positive people inspired by the purpose and vision.

When do we need to do this?
Now!

How do we continue to achieve the purpose and vision?

• Determining and implementing business models that provide cashflow to look after Merrin and Louise so they can share this vision with even more people.
  
• Ensuring Merrin is living as a “Star” and Louise as a “Lord”, or put another way, that they are doing what they are best at and enjoy doing.
  
• Sharing our New Zealand and international experiences with others (particularly across Asia) so that more people can see how the actions of a few can make a real difference.
  
• Connecting environmentally conscious business owners with organisations active in making an on the ground difference.
  
• By being open to opportunities and ideas presented to us.
  

Grow well
Dr Merrin

Goals for 2009

Since 1998 I have been writing down my goals. I must admit that even after what is now 10 years I am still amazed at how if you write them down you do achieve many of them.

Once you write them down you do need to refer to them again and have them in a prominent place. For the first few years I wrote them down and they stayed in a file hidden on my desk out of sight. More recently I have had them in my diary that I carry every day though on a page that I was not looking at regularly. So this year I have decided to put them in many places including in my diary, as part of the wallpaper on my computer desktop and here on my blog so I see them every day. The reason for them going on the blog is so that the world, well really the human internet users that find this page, do know what my goals are. So I am looking forward to seeing how this helps me achieve more of my goals and also hopefully to help others achieve their goals.

So here are some of my goals for 2009:

• Be fit and healthy and really feel fit and healthy
  
• Generate income of at least US$80,000 so that I can support Louise, cover our financial commitments and help promote and solve environmental, conservation and animal welfare issues around the world
  
• Plant trees in at least 5 different countries
  
• Meet Jackie Chan and work with him on environmental initiatives
  
• Give motivational and educational presentations in at least 5 different countries with at least one of them being as a paid keynote speaker
  
• Visit a bear sanctuary in Vietnam or China (oh yes I also can write this as a second one by replacing “bear” with “beer”)
  
• Climb the 10 highest peaks in the Hong Kong SAR plus the highest peak on Lamma and Po Toi Islands
  
• Have at least one brand sponsorship deal
  
• Establish ourselves more formally in Hong Kong
  
• Have a staring role in a movie
  
• Live in a more comfortable house
  
• Work on an international project that calls upon my surveying, geodesy, mapping and quality assurance skills.

You know the other interesting part about writing your goals down, is how clearly and precisely you write them.. What I mean is that the opportunities to achieve those goals as written can appear in ways that you do not expect though they do meet your goals.

So I look forward to experiencing how this year’s goals become reality.

Grow well
Dr Merrin

PS: If you have got this far through this posting then do let me know what your goals are so I may assist you to achieve them!

Top 3 people who made a global difference to the environment in 2008

I would love to hear who are your top 3 people that made a real difference to raise environmental awareness globally in 2008.

Personally I think the following three people had the biggest impact on me.

Al Gore - continues to promote awareness about climate change. I really liked his challenge to America to produce all of its electricity from renewable sources within 10 years. What a target for America and actually all countries. I have just finished reading his booking titled "An Assault on Reason" and it highlighted to me again how it can be difficult to get a balanced view from mainstream media. http://www.algore.com/


Paul Coleman - Earthwalker – has now walked over 47,500 km through 39 nations, planting trees and encouraging people to preserve the natural environment, delivering the environmental message to all aspects of society, from the jungles of the Amazon to the highlands of Zimbabwe, and even into war zones. The simple action of walking and keeping focused on the goal despite the challenges of the physical and political environments he travels through amazes me. This year Paul and Konomi finished a walk from Hong Kong to Beijing (another 3140 km) and Louise and I had the pleasure of joining them for a mere 180 km (check out our adventures at http://asia-ecopreneur.blogspot.com)
http://www.earthwalker.com/

Jill Robinson – The founder of Animals Asia continues to promote and take action towards ending cruelty and restoring respect for animals in Asia. Her organisations work to reduce the cruelty to bears farmed for their bile (in Vietnam , China and Korea) and killing methods for cats and dogs in the misguided belief that "torture equals taste"! http://www.animalsasia.org/

I am looking forward to hearing of other amazing people making a real difference to improve our environment.

Grow well
Dr Merrin