All of the New Zealand APEC Voices team members had no doubt done their research on the key focus areas of discussions at APEC 2011 before we left. But the proverb ‘it is better to see something once than to hear about it 100 times’ comes to mind.

Being able to witness first-hand the difficult process undertaken to achieve economic cooperation and cohesion was crucial to furthering our understanding of the challenges facing APEC and the way in which they are being addressed.

We had a truly amazing experience at APEC and would like to say a huge mahalo to Victoria University of Wellington, Auckland University of Technology, Asia:NZ Foundation, Te Puni Kokiri and VTM-NZ Trust for making this possible.

Highlights

Cultural

We had the privilege of being hosted by some of the incredibly hospitable students and staff of Kamehameha School.  They organised a host of activities for the Voices delegates in order that we would get a real insight into the culture and history of the Hawaiian people. We were struck by the energy and enthusiasm of the group, and enjoyed learning about the similarities between New Zealand Maori and Hawaiian culture. The activities they arranged included a cultural performance by the Kamehameha students, an address from one of Hawaii’s master navigators, a paddle on a traditional Hawaiian waka, learning about and participating in traditional agricultural practices, a guided tour of the Bishop Museum, a Luau, and a closing ceremony in which each member economy was given time to share their culture through song, dance, and the exchanging of gifts.  These activities highlighted to us the way in which the Hawaiian people are reclaiming their history and culture with pride, and gave many delegates hope that their indigenous cultures can one day do the same. We valued the opportunity to gain insight into the broader effects of globalisation before the start of the APEC CEO Summit.

Distinguished speakers

In addition to attending ABAC and APEC meetings, the Voices team arranged for the youth delegation to hear from a number of distinguished speakers.  During these times we were encouraged to share our opinions and ask questions of them during the Q & A time at the conclusion of each session.

The first speaker was Admiral Patrick Walsh, Commander of the US Pacific Fleet.  We went to the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies where he addressed us on the topic of “Security in the Pacific Rim”, explaining that security is the ‘oxygen’ to trade. Issues covered in the Q & A time were Humanitarian Assistance, Maritime Security and Aggression Deterrence. The importance of security in the Asia-Pacific region was a key theme for the summit and Admiral Walsh explained the costs and benefits of armed defence in the region and the expanding role of the US in this strategic part of the world. He was able to offer a nuanced perspective on the matter as an academic and Naval Admiral.

The second speaker was Dr Maya Soetoro-Ng, assistant professor at the University of Hawaii, consultant at the East-West Centre and President Obama’s half-sister. We went to the East-West Center to hear her speak about “Peace Education and Conflict Resolution”. Dr Maya spoke about the need for us to be people who engage in conflict transformation and collaborate on a global level to share solutions for common problems. In the Q & A time, Melody asked for some suggestions as to how we as young leaders can ensure our voices are heard regarding the changes we want to see in the world.

The third speaker was Professor Manfred Steger from the University of Hawaii-Manoa. Prof. Steger’s main research interests are globalisation, political ideologies, and comparative (mostly East-West) political theory. He addressed us on the topic of “Globalisation: The ideological struggle of the 21st century”, speaking specifically about ‘market globalisation’ and ‘justice globalisation’.

The fourth speaker was Francisco Sanchez, US Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade.  Mr Sanchez spent half an hour with us, and implored us to be the voices that our world needs to hear today, not just in the future.  During the Q & A, one of the Voices delegates raised the issue of the environmental impacts businesses are having on our climate.  In response Mr Sanchez said, “investing in a sustainable planet is not a burden, rather an opportunity and a necessity”.

CEO Summit

There were many incredible opportunities to hear from both world leaders and CEO’s during the CEO Summit.  Here are some of our highlights:

• The first session of the APEC CEO summit was aptly named “The future. Redefined”. Here Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsein Loong, and two CEO’s discussed how dramatic regional and global developments in technology, politics and the natural world change the way in which we prepare for the futures of our societies.  Participants had the chance to engage with these leaders through the Q & A time, which provided a great forum for more discussion.
• We attended a session titled the “21st Century Workforce” seminar with Australia Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, ABAC Chair and Asia Pacific Group President of Procter & Gamble, Deb Henretta & the Managing Director of The World Bank, Sri Mulyani. The main points discussed were jobless growth, labour mobility, providing ongoing training for employees and the need for investment in higher education.
• We attended a very interesting session called “Redefining health: An economic asset and competitive advantage”. The panellists were key leaders from Johnson & Johnson, Takeda Pharmaceuticals and The Cleveland Clinic.  Together they discussed ways in which they are attempting to curb the extent to which health issues are affecting the working population. A statement made during this panel in favour of businesses supporting their employees to improve their health and wellbeing was that “every $1 spent on prevention, will save you $3 in looking after them”.  The panellists also suggested ways in which companies can provide health education and programmes in the workplace.  Some other suggestions included: providing financial incentives for employees that make improvements in their health status and offering healthy food at meetings as a substitution to junk food.  This session was very informative and in a way unexpected at a forum like APEC.
• Hillary Clinton (USA) made a last minute appearance, in which she stated “reducing barriers to women’s participation in the economy will increase GDP in the US by 9% and Japan by 16%” amongst other insightful discussion points.
• President Hu Jintao (China) spoke for half an hour with a focus on easing concerns about important issues that have arisen relating to China such as Intellectual Property Rights and Foreign Investment policies.  He also announced China’s intention to take on an increased role in promoting free trade and investment liberalisation.
• President Barack Obama (USA) made an announcement that he had just signed a document that would allow USA businessmen to apply for the APEC travel card. At this point all the CEO’s erupted with great applause, well at least the American ones! President Obama also spoke about China relations, China currency, intellectual property, the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) and the Euro zone crisis.
• Other notable speakers we heard from included President Yudhoyono of Indonesia, President Medvedev of Russia and Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google.

Meeting with NZ ABAC members and attending ABAC meetings

We met with NZ ABAC members Tony Nowell, Gary Judd, Fiona Cooper-Clarke & Stephen Jacobi for breakfast at the Sheraton hotel before their meetings commenced for the week. We discussed issues of food security, trade and liberalisation, and gained insight into the relationship between ABAC and APEC and its relevance to New Zealand.

We were impressed with the leadership shown by the New Zealand contingent within the APEC process. Tony Nowell, Chair of the ABAC Regional Economic Intergration Sub-committee, explained the ABAC negotiation process and we were able to gain a unique insight into the long term planning that goes into ABAC policy. This provided an exceptional introduction to the complexities of the intersection of global business and political negotiations and the process of building consensus among regional business leaders.

The following day Mr Nowell invited us to attend the Regional Economic Integration Working Group, in which he is the chair.  The key issues discussed were:

• The importance of services and how this aspect of trade has been under represented in policy attention.
• Supply chain choke points within the APEC region and suggestions for improvements to increase efficiency.
• Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement – the lead US trade negotiator, Barbara Weisel, spoke on the progress of the TPP and its importance for the APEC region.

In a separate meeting, Tony Nowell spoke to the Voices group about the general ABAC agenda, highlighting issues of trade and investment liberalisation and the importance of working together.  During the Q & A session, Sudhvir asked how ABAC seeks to deal with climate change; ie: whether they support regionalised emissions trading schemes or whether they see that as an impediment to growth.  Mr Nowell replied that the business community tries to avoid the politics around this issue and instead supports increased trade in environmental goods and services. Melody asked a question about what some of the strengths and weaknesses are of APEC being a non-binding body.  Mr Nowell responded that there has been significant traction made on agreements between the member economies over the years of its existence, indicating that it’s non-binding nature has much strength.

Meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Bill English

Our New Zealand delegation was very fortunate to meet with Deputy Prime Minister Bill English.  Mr English was very personable and was interested to hear about how we had each been selected to attend APEC Voices of the Future.  In the discussion that followed, Nick queried, “What attention APEC is giving to liberalising investment flows between APEC countries? As many countries, including NZ, restrict foreign investment (e.g. Chinese buying dairy farms) for xenophobic reasons. These restrictions hurt, not benefit, the potential recipient country.” Deputy Prime-Minister English responded by saying that the xenophobia in NZ is not as bad as the media portrays it to be, using the example of a German bank recently setting up without trouble.

Words seem inadequate to explain just how amazing this opportunity was for each of us, but we hope these highlights have given you a glimpse into what we experienced, learned and will be thinking about for years to come.

APEC challenges and how they are being addressed

Whilst everyone had no doubt done their research on the key focus areas of discussions, the proverb “It is better to see something once than to hear about it 100 times” comes to mind. Actually being able to witness first-hand the difficult process undertaken to achieve economic cooperation and cohesion was crucial to furthering our understanding of the challenges facing APEC and the way in which they are being addressed.

The speech we heard from Professor Manfred Steger was a highlight from the trip, and also showed us an important lesson of looking at both sides of the coin. Professor Steger spoke about the topic of “Globalisation: The ideological struggle of the 21st century”. Professor Steger gave an overview of the two main ideologies of ‘market globalisation’ and ‘justice globalisation.’  He gave the arguments of both sides, and showed us how they are polarised against each other and instilled upon us the responsibility that the youth of today have to create global dialogue and find a way to balance these two ideologies and create a working solution.

US Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, Francisco Sanchez, spent half an hour with us and was another very interesting speaker. He encouraged us that as much as we are the voices of the future, we need to be the voices of today. The main point that stood out was when he was asked a question around the issue of the environmental impacts businesses are having on our climate. He replied with a remark that “investing in a sustainable planet is not a burden, rather an opportunity and a necessity.”

The most important thing we took away from President Obama’s speech was to do with embracing and encouraging China to continue to grow, but to also pose a reminder that if China wants to be a part of the wider international organisations, it must follow the rules. This stood out to us, as it highlighted the difficulties of international relations and helped reveal the difficult processes that are undertaken to encourage mutually beneficial outcomes on the international stage.

Conclusion

APEC Voices has reinforced upon us that we should not be intimidated by titles. All of the business and political leaders we met are people like you and me who were extremely inviting and showed genuine interest in the youth and our thoughts. It was important to have the confidence to walk up to them and engage in conversation, and this is a great skill for us as young leaders to have further developed.

Equally important were the friendships we forged with young people from all around the world. We had witnessed the efforts of leaders to increase communication and cooperation, and it’s now up to us to continue to form strong ties and build upon the work done by those before us.

With the opportunities of social networking sites like Facebook available to us today, there is no excuse for us to not keep in contact and further the bonds we have made with other like-minded youth around the world.

Melody Cooper, Nick Barry, Arena Williams and Sudhvir Singh

We arrived in Hawai’i! We arrived at the welcome meeting late but received a nice welcome from everyone. Here we found out what our week at APEC Voices of the Future would look like and got to meet its founders and other key leaders. We are in anticipation of the week ahead.

Voices delegates meet NZ

Tuesday 8th November

We were lucky enough to get an invitation from the NZ ABAC team to join them for breakfast at the Sheraton hotel at 7am. It was great meeting the likes of Tony Nowell, Gary Judd, Stephen Jacobi & Fiona Cooper-Clarke and gaining an understanding of their role in ABAC and APEC. Issues of food security, trade and liberalisation were discussed, and we gained an insight into the background to APEC and its relevance to New Zealand.
Following the breakfast, we met up with the rest of the delegates at the impressive Kamehameha Schools Kapalama Campus for the opening ceremony. A cultural performance was put on for us by the students and we then heard from the Mayor of Honululu and the Governor of Hawai’i. Next on the agenda was to hear from keynote speaker Nainoa Thompson, Native Hawaiian and Master Navigator, who shared with us an inspirational message on the importance of retaining culture. During the subsequent panel discussion, Sudhvir asked a question about the absence of South Pacific nations in the current APEC community and the potential for their inclusion in the future. The panel agreed that youth can play a key role in ensuring regional leaders engage with smaller isolated nations to aid their development.

Delegates with Admiral Patrick Walsh, Commander of US Pacific Fleet

We then travelled to the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies and were lucky enough to hear from Admiral Patrick Walsh, Commander of the US Pacific Fleet. Admiral Walsh talked to us about the topic of “Security in the Pacific Rim”, explaining to us that security is the ‘oxygen’ to trade. Other issues covered in the Q & A were things like Humanitarian Assistance, Maritime Security and Aggression Deterrence. The Q & A session provided a great platform for the delegates to ask questions on broad topics.

Today was very full-on, but a great beginning to the program. Bring on the rest!

Wednesday 9th November

This morning we altered the program as we received a special invitation from Tony Nowell to observe the Regional Economic Integration Working Group which he chairs. The key issues discussed were:

• The importance of services and how this aspect of trade has been under represented in policy attention
• Supply chain choke points within the APEC region and suggestions for improvements to increase efficiency
• Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement – the lead US trade negotiator, Barbara Weisel, spoke on the progress of the TPP and its importance for the APEC region

We then linked back up with the rest of the delegates to hear Deb Henretta, ABAC Chair, give an interesting and inspirational talk on leadership and embracing global opportunities.

Tony Nowell then spoke to the group about the general ABAC agenda, such as trade and investment liberalisation, the importance of working together and gave us some general background. The floor was opened to some questions, and Sudhvir asked an interesting question on how ABAC deals with climate change; whether they support a regionalised emissions trading scheme or whether they see that as in impediment to growth. Mr Nowell replied that as the business community, they avoid the politics and rather support increased trade in environmental goods and services. They see preventative measures as a better way forward and are opposed to penalisation. Melody initiated a discussion on the benefits and weaknesses of APEC being non-binding.
Mel and Arena had the chance in the afternoon to paddle on a traditional Hawaiian waka with Master Navigator, Nainoa Thompson.

Thursday 10th November

The day started off with a unique Hawaiian cultural experience, learning about the process that traditional farmers undertook to produce taro. Everyone got involved in the mud and the process of cultivation.

We then went to the East-West Center and were lucky enough to hear Dr Maya Soetoro-Ng, President Barack Obama’s half-sister, talk about “Peace Education and Conflict Resolution.” Her key points included the need to look at international disputes from both sides of the story and viewing conflict resolution as conflict transformation instead. Mel asked about how we, as young leaders, can ensure our voices are heard regarding the changes we want to see in the world. Dr Soetoro Ng raised the idea of the importance of social media and the potential it has to rally people behind ideas.

Later on, we visited the Bishop Museum, where we had dinner and heard from Professor Manfred Steger, whose main research interests are around globalisation, political ideologies, and comparative (mostly East-West) political theory. Around the topic “Globalisation: The ideological struggle of the 21st century”. Professor Steger gave an overview of the two main ideologies of ‘market globalisation’ and ‘justice globalisation.’ He gave the arguments for both sides, and showed us how they are polarised against each other and instilled upon us the responsibility that the youth of today have to create global dialogue and find a way to balance these two ideologies and create a working solution.

We were then shown around Bishop Museum by students of the Kamehameha School and learnt about the history of the Hawaiian people. It has been great to experience a lot of Hawaiian culture on this trip alongside engaging with the APEC process.

Friday 11th November

Today was the opening of the APEC CEO Summit of 2011, the most significant meeting of business leaders in the region. The first session was called ‘The future redefined” and here Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsein Loong, and two CEOs discussed how dramatic regional and global developments in technology, politics and the natural world change the way in which we prepare for the futures of our societies. Participants had the chance to engage with these leaders through the Q & A time, which provided a great forum for more discussion.

Voices delegates had the opportunity to mingle with the CEOs at morning tea and lunch at the Sheraton. US Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, Francisco Sanchez, spent half an hour with us at the Royal Hawaiian hotel. He encouraged us that as much as we are the voices of the future, we need to be the voices of today. The main point that stood out was when he was asked a question around the issue of the  environmental impacts businesses are having on our climate. He replied with a remark that “investing in a sustainable planet is not a burden, rather an opportunity and a necessity”.

We then attended the “21st Century Workforce” seminar with Australia Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, ABAC Chair and Asia Pacific leader of Procter & Gamble, Deb Henretta & the World Bank managing director. This was probably the liveliest discussion of the summit so far, with great questions being asked from the attendees that resulted in great responses. The main points discussed were jobless growth and the need for investment in higher education.

Hillary Clinton made a last minute appearance, in which she stated “reducing barriers to women’s participation in the economy will increase GDP in the US by 9% and Japan by 16%” amongst other insightful discussion points.

We all finished the day off at Paradise Cove. In this beautiful setting we were exposed to the Hawaiin tourism industry through cultural performances and a traditional meal. This resort style experience really puts into context the rich cultural education and insight we have received during our prior activities.

We are really looking forward to tomorrow where we will get the chance to hear President Barack Obama and President Hu Jintao as well as meet with Deputy Prime Minister Bill English. Stay tuned for more on this!

Saturday 12th November

We have reached the final day of the program and what a way to finish! We observed the second day of the CEO summit, and the day began with the topic of ‘Redefining Health: An Economic Asset and Competitive Advantage’. The discussion was lead by Patricia Janiot, Senior Anchor, CNN en Español, and included the likes of William C. Weldon, Chairman and CEO, Johnson & Johnson.
Following this, President Hu Jintao of China spoke for half an hour. It seemed his focus was on easing concerns about important issues that have arisen relating to China, such as Intellectual Property Rights and Foreign Investment policies, and announced China’s intention to take on an increased role in promoting free trade and investment liberalisation.

There was a big buzz in the air as the time for the next speaker to take the stage approached – as you would expect with the USA as the host nation. President Barack Obama took the stage to a huge round of applause.  He addressed the areas of: China relations, China currency, intellectual property, the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) and the Euro zone crisis. While a lot of his speech was just skimming the surface, there were messages in between the lines. Specifically, Obama telling China that if they wanted to enter agreements like the TPP, they would have to follow the rules and it would be on very specific terms.

After hearing such amazing speakers and leaders, all the delegates were filled with enthusiasm. We stepped outside of the conference room and were lucky enough to spot some business leaders from NZ and spent some time networking with them.

We were  invited to meet with our Deputy Prime Minister, Bill English, that afternoon. He was very down-to-earth and relaxed, which encouraged a free-flowing conversation. Nick asked what sort of attention APEC was giving to liberalising investment flows between APEC countries, as many countries restrict foreign investment (e.g. Chinese buying dairy farms) for xenophobic reasons. These restrictions can hurt, not benefit, the potential recipient country. Deputy Prime Minister English responded by saying that the xenophobia in New Zealand is not as bad as the media portrays it to be, using the example of a German bank recently setting up without trouble. It was amazing for us to have the chance to meet such an important leader in such a relaxed environment.

We were then straight back to the CEO Summit to hear Russian President Medvedev speak at the Closing Ceremony and watch the handover to Russia to host APEC 2012 in Vladivostok.

We then rushed back to our own Voices of the Future Closing Ceremony, where we went back to Kamehameha School, who had hosted us so well throughout the week. We ate dinner and socialised, with gifts from each country exchanged and reflections upon the week had. There were then performances from each country, showcasing our various cultures.

Today was extremely action-packed, but incredible. If any single event had happened alone in that day, it would have been a life-long memory. We had a truly amazing experience at APEC and would like to say a huge mahalo to Victoria University of Wellington, Auckland University of Technology, Asia:NZ Foundation, Te Puni Kokiro and VTM-NZ Trust for making this possible. Aloha!

Sudhvir Singh, Melody Cooper, Nick Barry, Arena Williams, David Ward and Martin Mariassouce - the team heading to APEC 2011

Four young leaders from New Zealand have been selected to travel to Hawaii to observe the 2011 APEC CEO Summit.

Arena Williams

Arena is in her fourth year at the University of Auckland,  studying law and commerce. She is the Education Vice President at the Auckland University Students’ Association and will be President in 2012. Her tribal affiliations are Ngai Tahu and Tuhoe. Arena would like to work for one of her iwi when she graduates.

Sudhvir Singh

Sudhvir is a Trainee Intern (final year medical student) with an Honours degree in Public Health at the University of Auckland. He has  served as president of the Auckland Medical Students’ Association (AUMSA) and the UN Youth Association in Auckland, and currently he is the National Coordinator of ‘Medical Students for Global Awareness’ (MSGA), a group he helped establish, and serves as the inaugural Education VP of AUMSA.

Nick Barry

Nick is about to complete his  first year of a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration at Victoria University of Wellington, and will most likely be majoring in Accounting and Finance. Last year Nick attended Hutt International Boys’ School in Upper Hutt. He loves all sports, and currently plays cricket and soccer. He has  also been involved in debating for a number of years. Last year Nick was a part of a team of 15 that went to Samoa to help out in a community that was severely damaged by the tsunami.

Melody Cooper

Melody is  completing a BA with a double major in Conflict Resolution and International Studies at AUT University in Auckland.  Prior to this she held various roles with non-profit organisations such as A Girl Called Hope, TEAR Fund NZ and Invisbile Children. Before this, Melody completed a diploma in Christian Ministries and lived in India for 5 months and America for 3 months. She loves travelling and also being a part of organisations and forums that are operating on a global scale to both influence and help create social change.

The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was established in 1989 as a unique forum operating on the basis of open dialogue and equal respect for the views of all its members. Each year, Heads of Government and Business Leaders convene in the APEC Summit to talk about regional issues.

Held in conjunction with the APEC Summit, the international APEC Voices of the Future Program provides a platform and opportunity for young people to understand the workings of APEC and engage with APEC leaders.

The international APEC Voices Leadership Council is currently in the process of creating a logo to represent the APEC Voices of the Future (APEC VOF). Thus, it invites all interested parties to participate and share their ideas in this logo design competition.

Eligibility

The competition is open to all individuals aged 14 to 25 years old with no restrictions in residency, nationality or experience. Each participant may only submit one logo design. Participants may compete as an individual or as a team.

Entries and deadline

Participants may  submit their entries in a CD or DVD via post to NYAA Council, 151 Lorong Chuan, #06-018 (Lobby A), New Tech Park, Singapore 556741 or by email: nyaac@singet.com.wg.

Please fill in the contact form to request more details on the competition and the entry form.

Entries must be submitted together wtih the completed registration form.

Overall, the APEC Voices of the Future 2010 has been a success – for both the New Zealand delegates and the VTM trust. As young leaders, we have gained a deep insight into international trade and diplomacy over the seven days of ABAC, SME and CEO Summits. We have also shared many aspects of New Zealand culture and values in a deep and meaningful way with other youth delegates from each of the respective economies.

Firstly, we would like to express special thanks to Noel Gould for having the vision to start the Voices of the Future conference as well as the energy and enthusiasm to mobilise a global team to make it all happen. Secondly, we would like to thank Martin Mariassouce and Dale Bailey, our two educators, for providing guidance, advice and generally taking care of us throughout the seven day conference in Japan.

Finally, we would like to thank both the VTM-Trust and the Asia:NZ Foundation for sponsoring our travel to China; David Ward for working on the administrative aspects leading up to and after the exchange – in particular organising tickets and other essential travel requirements.

Outstanding Moments / Highlights

While every day was exciting and interesting, the highlights of the programme for us were:

Cultural: Being APEC delegates meant all the major tourist destinations were free to us. Highlights include: the Landmark Tower and the Marine tower which showed stunning views of Yokohama during the day and at night – both of which were breathtaking; the Yokohama Museum of Art was spectacular, showcasing traditional and contemporary Japanese art; the stunning Edgar Degas exhibition; viewing the Japanese experience exhibition- ability to experience new technology and robotics. We also enjoyed being “immersed” in Japanese way of life, this included visiting local Japanese shops, using its world-famous subway system to travel around the city, understanding local business practices and cultural etiquettes.

SME Summit: Listening to the likes of Jessica Rodriguez from Peru, and hearing about the  barriers affecting SME’s the most (e.g. flexibility of banks with loans to businesses, starting out, and having reasonable interest rates).

CEO Summit: the chance to see and speak to some of the most important APEC leaders was an incredible experience. Speaking with some of the staffers and people who presented reports at the ABAC Summit provided us with great insights on how to get into other things in the International Trade and Business world, and how to make the most of the conferences we were to attend. The speakers were also extremely insightful, some highlights include:

• US President Barack Obama:  This was the last visit of a series of trips which President Obama made after the visit to India and Seoul for the G20 meetings. It was evident the disappointing results of the mid-term elections had an effect on him as President Obama framed America’s engagement with Asia as a “job strategy”. For example, the USA wants to export more goods to Asia and not vice versa. Although at face value Obama’s speech didn’t go down well with the audience, one important point to remember is that free trade is mutual and it is important for APEC to give Obama concrete results to ensure the continued support of his constituencies (and to avoid any tendencies of isolationism/protectionism).
• President Hu Jintao of China: We couldn’t help but noticed the thunderous applause when Mr Hu came and left stage and how this contrasted with the relatively muted response compared to Obama. This almost symbolises the shift in power today, as the PM of Singapore summarised succinctly: “If China wasn’t growing, then I don’t know where we’d be now…we’d probably be hiding in a cave sitting on top of our gold bars”. Mr Hu talked at length about the concept of “inclusive growth”, growth which not only brings economic benefits but also social and environmental benefits, which is known as the triple bottom line in the West.
• Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard talked about the importance of ICT innovation. In particular, Ms Gillard emphasised the importance of cyber security. Interestingly, one development raised by Mr Mundie of Microsoft and Mr Nishide of Toshiba was the development of quantum cryptography. This technology would make it virtually impossible to crack open an encrypted message and was hailed as one of the potential breakthroughs in internet security.
• Donald Tsang, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong spoke at length about the importance of China as the driver of economic growth.
• Simon Tay from Singapore reminded us we should not take sides between China and the US but work with both economies to create win-win trade relationships.
• Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan made an impassioned speech about the need for Japan to reform and stay relevant in the 21st century. Mr Kan went on to say Japan is ready to engage with other countries on free trade to tackle its slow-moving economy through increased competition and innovation.
• Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet on the importance of ASEAN economic integration.
• Our very own Prime Minister John Key warned that we should be careful of potential currency retaliatory wars.
• Philippines President Benigno Acquino III spoke of the importance of regional architecture in facilitating free-trade.

Meeting the NZ ABAC members: The chance to get past the political issues to the heart of what was a priority for our ABAC members (Tony Nowell, Gary Judd and Stephen Jacobi) was very insightful. It was a great hour-long chat about the importance of APEC: the significance of Japan’s desire to enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership, where Japan’s market would open up to the world for the first time – this is especially relevant for New Zealand due to agricultural tariffs; the importance of a modern comprehensive free-trade area rather than a restrictive free trade agreement; and the importance of optimising the global supply/value chain. We were told that in the Asia Pacific region, US$325 million is lost every day of delays caused by non-business reasons such as tariffs and customs.

Meeting Prime Minister John Key: We had a candid and friendly chat with the Prime Minister and we all left the room buzzing, feeling incredibly lucky that as Kiwis, we have such immediate access to our leaders. In the 45 minutes, we covered the following topics:

• The dangers of foreign exchange retaliatory wars: The need to understand that larger nations in emerging economies have a number of issues they need to balance and retaliatory measures are often counter-productive and might inhibit growth. This is especially concerning given that Asia-Pacific is one of the few areas of growth in the world economy.
• What New Zealand needs to focus on in order to compete in the international arena: Mr Key highlighted three areas: 1) food production (including the use/development of innovative/high technology); 2) leveraging the power of the internet to run virtual businesses (e.g. the likes of Xero, virtual consulting firms); 3) Niche industries where we have immense amount of talent, e.g. the film industry. Mr Key also emphasised the need for New Zealand to increase its domestic savings in order to be financially resilient.
• Mr Key finished by leaving a video message to the Voices delegates: “We value the Voices of the Future programme. You are making a contribution to what the Asia-Pacific is going to look like…thank you very much and come and visit us in New Zealand.”

Other highlights that have been noted include:

• Viewing and contributing towards Nissan’s vision on APEC: its latest developments to help the community and the environment e.g. development of the leaf, the Smart Grid, looking around the eco-houses Network, connect with and befriend other similarly minded individuals across  the Asia Pacific.
• Discussion with other delegates about their cultures, their economies, their situations
• Seeing a real protest against APEC in the main shopping areas- which moved into the city centre.

Key Learnings

APEC’s Role in the region: APEC’s role is in facilitative discussion in a non-threatening and mutually trusting environment that is very hard to find in other international organisations. The non-binding nature of APEC as well as the economic focus of the organisation is an advantage as it helps the member economies to focus on practical/pragmatic initiatives that can be done now rather than the “ideal” that more formal negotiations often get locked into (e.g. WTO DOHA negotiations).  A good example of this is Japan. No amount of international pressure will “change” the trade policies of Japan. They must adapt from within, and to do so they need support and concepts to draw off from APEC economies.

From watching the Trans Pacific Partnership (“TPP”) take shape, it is clear the competitive advantage other economies producing competing goods will have, especially if they do not make steps to eliminate the high levels of protectionism, e.g. in the agricultural sector, imported rice has a 777.7% tariff attached. Therefore, Japan took the unprecedented step of wanting to announcing their desire to enter the TPP negotiations, a qantum leap for a country that is deeply conservative in terms of its free-trade policies.

APEC’s Importance to New Zealand: APEC is hugely important to New Zealand. In fact, fourteen of our (New Zealand) top 20 export markets are APEC members, including the three largest economies in the world – the United States, Japan and China. The APEC region accounts for 70 percent of New Zealand’s total trade and 60 percent of our inward foreign direct investment. Close coordination with APEC economies is vital to New Zealand’s future prosperity. APEC assists New Zealand business by supporting trade liberalisation and promoting high-quality free trade agreements in the region. It has been successful in reducing costs of trading across borders, and provides a channel to improve the business environment. Progress in these areas will continue to make it easier for New Zealanders to do business throughout the APEC region.

The importance of agriculture and agribusiness in the realisation of free-trade negotiations. Agriculture was continuously raised as the number one barrier to free trade, despite it making up a small proportion of the member economies’ GDP. Fundamental to all this is each country’s paranoia about being “self-reliant”. This was especially evident with Japan. Despite accounting only 1.3% of the GDP, the agriculture sector is an extremely powerful lobby against free-trade. However, increasingly, countries are realising that if they are impeding free trade, then they will effectively become less competitive in the global supply chain and eventually lose out to a country with more favourable conditions. In addition, by protecting their own industries, countries are actually weakening their own production sector by making it less competitive. The real danger for countries for countries like Japan that impose strict tariffs is that other countries that are more willing to sign free trade deals will get a greater guarantee in food supplies (and hence food security) from countries like New Zealand.

Women’s Advancement in Society: After World War II, the fixed image of the Japanese woman has been that of the office lady, who becomes a housewife and a “kyoiku mama” (education mother) after marriage. Given these barriers, it is no surprise that many successful Japanese women expressed the difficulty of breaking into the “boys club” and other career-blocking issues that are specific to women, such as the difficulty of finding suitable childcare. These issues have long been confronted in the West; however, it is something that we should never become complacent about.

Other key learnings that have been noted include:

• The highly complex and interdependent relationship between political agenda and business needs and how this affects trade.
• The importance of SMEs in International Trade and Business Being updated with the position of each economy in terms of the whereabouts on trade liberalization e.g. whether they are in ASEAN +1, TPP, deciding to be in TPP.
• Learn of Japan’s new growth strategy and how this plays apart in defining APEC goals and aims
• Develop interview skills through firsthand experience
• Understanding the ABAC process
• Understanding how different people from different economies learn about
• APEC and their selection process into Voices – which we can report back to
• VTM-NZ

13 November 2010

Today is the last day of our APEC adventure, and what a way to finish!  The day kicked off with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan making an impassioned speech about the need for Japan to reform and stay relevant in the 21st century.  Mr Kan went on to say Japan is ready to engage with other countries on free trade to tackle its slow-moving economy through increased competition and innovation.  Mr Kan was followed by United States President Barack Obama.  This was the last visit of a series of trips which President Obama made after the visit to India and Seoul for the G20 meetings.  It was evident the disappointing results of the mid-term elections had an effect on him as President Obama framed America’s engagement with Asia as a “job strategy”.  For example, the USA wants to export more goods to Asia and not vice versa.  Although at face value Obama’s speech didn’t go down well with the audience, one important point to remember is that free trade is mutual and it is important for APEC to give Obama concrete results to ensure the continued support of his constituencies (and to avoid any tendencies of isolationism/protectionism).  It was also interesting that the US president was the only leader that spoke on his own podium (with the seal of the US president).

Obama was followed by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard who talked about the importance of ICT innovation.  In particular, Ms Gillard emphasised the importance of cyber security.  Interestingly, one development raised by Mr Mundie of Microsoft and Mr Nishide of Toshiba was the development of quantum cryptography.  This technology would make it virtually impossible to crack open an encrypted message and was hailed as one of the potential breakthroughs in internet security.

The last main speaker of the day was China’s President, Hu Jintao. I couldn’t help but noticed the thunderous applause when Mr Hu came and left stage and how this contrasted with the relatively muted response compared to Obama. This almost symbolises the shift in power today, as the PM of Singapore summarised succinctly: “If China wasn’t growing, then I don’t know where we’d be now…we’d probably be hiding in a cave sitting on top of our gold bars”. Mr Hu talked at length about the concept of “inclusive growth”, growth which not only brings economic benefits but also social and environmental benefits, which is known as the triple bottom line in the West.

Phew..all this within four hours, what a morning. We spent lunch time networking and talking to the delegates of the CEO Summit, while the afternoon session was a series of more intimate workshop/Q&As with top executives across many of the largest corporations around the world. We touched on a wide range of topics including whether it is right for governments to bail out companies, the importance of corporate social responsibility, what the West can learn from Japans failed attempts in the last two decades to use fiscal policies to stimulate its economy.

We finished the day by having dinner with all the Voices of the Future delegates at Chinatown in Yokohama, one of the biggest in the world. This was capped off with gift exchanges (where our Kiwi t-shirts, pens and pads were snapped up instantly – courtesy of Trade Me – thanks for the support guys!) and a cultural night (where different delegates showcased different aspects of their culture).

We had an absolutely awesome time at APEC, have learnt heaps, met lots of interesting people and made a lot of good friends. Thank you to VTM-NZ and Asia New Zealand Foundation for making all of this happen. I hope you enjoyed following our daily updates and we look forward to APEC 2011 in Hawaii!

12 November 2010

Today is the opening of the APEC CEO Summit of 2010, the most significant meeting of business leaders in the region. The morning sessions focused on the prospect of the global economy, how we can ensure strong, sustained growth following the economic crisis, and how Asia Pacific economies can contribute to global growth and prosperity. Donald Tsang, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of People’s Republic of China, gave an impassioned speech about the importance of China as the driver of economic growth. And Simon Tay from Singapore reminded us we should not take sides between China and the US but work with both economies to create win-win trade relationships.

In the afternoon, we heard from Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet on the importance of ASEAN economic integration, followed by speeches from our very own Prime Minister John Key, where he warned that we should be careful of potential currency retaliatory wars. Philippines President Benigno Acquino III spoke of the importance of regional architecture in facilitating free-trade.

The highlight of the day was later in the afternoon where we had a 45 minute sit-down discussion with Prime Minister John Key. Mr Key spoke about the importance of avoiding currency valuation wars, inclusion of additional countries such as India, and what New Zealand needs to do to be competitive in the world. It was an extremely candid and friendly chat and we all left the room buzzing; feeling incredibly lucky as Kiwis that we have such immediate access to our leaders.

That concludes day five. Tomorrow is another hugely exciting day, with the line up of three of the most powerful men in the world: President Obama of the United States, President Hu of China and President Medvedev of Russia. We look forward to sharing this and more with you tomorrow.

11 November 2010

We were up early today to meet the New Zealand ABAC members, Tony Nowell, Chair of the Trade Liberalisation Working Group at ABAC and former CEO of Zespri, alternate ABAC member, Stephen Jacobi, and ASB Bank Chairman, Gary Judd. It was a great hour-long chat about the importance of APEC: the significance of Japan’s desire to enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership, where Japan’s market would open up to the world for the first time – this is especially relevant for New Zealand due to agricultural tariffs; the importance of a modern comprehensive free-trade area rather than a restrictive free trade agreement; and the importance of optimising the global supply/value chain. We were told that in the Asia Pacific region, US$325 million is lost every day of delays caused by non-business reasons such as tariffs and customs. We were all deeply grateful to the NZ ABAC members taking the time to speak to us and we have all learned a lot from it.

We spent the rest of the day attending the Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) Summit where a number of speakers covered topics on access to financing. This was followed by a three hour panel discussion on the importance of advancing women in modern Japan where many social and cultural issues were raised as obstacles for Japanese women today.

It has been another fruitful day, meeting lots of new people and learning lots of new things. We look forward to tomorrow’s CEO Summit where we will hear our very own Prime Minister John Key speak about the importance of regional economic integration in the Asia Pacific – exciting! Stayed tuned!

10 November 2010

Phew – what a day today. Today we attended the last “special topic” session and the closing plenary of ABAC – the APEC Business Advisory Council. The morning session, attended by half of the group, was an important discussion on financial capacity building in the wake of the global financial crisis, while the afternoon was the closing plenary where ABAC members ensured the discussions and agreements were locked in.

Throughout the whole day we also had the opportunity to conduct a number of interviews with ABAC delegates from member economies. One highlight was the interview with Canadian ABAC member Paul Lee, former president of the largest game publisher in the world – Electronic Arts, and now an accomplished venture capitalist investing in digital media start-ups. We also had a chance to have a friendly chat with David Kiu, senior manager of government relations at P&G and Sun Xiao, director of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

We also had the chance to take a few hours to explore the city of Yokohama. We were given a number of choices, such as exploring parts of Chinatown, strolling through the tranquil sakeien garden and going to the “Sky Garden” – Yokohama’s landmark tower – to get a panoramic view of the city.

9 November 2010

Today was the opening ceremony of the Voices of the Future programme at the Nissan headquarters. The guest of honour was Japanese Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms Makiko Kikuta. Other speakers included Mr Hitoshi Kawaguchi, Senior Vice President of Nissan Moto Co, Ms Fumiko Kawaguchi, Mayor of Yokohama, Mr Teng Thend Dar, co-chairman of ABAC 2010, Muhamad Noor, Executive Director of APEC, and Mr Hideaki Watanabe, Corporate Vice President of Nissan Electronic Vehicle Division. We were shown a demonstration of the Nissan Leave (the fully electric vehicle), two Japanese smart houses and a whirlwind tour of the Japanese expo, fully equipped with talking robots!

8 November 2010

We arrived in Haneda airport in Tokyo in the morning, caught the bus and train to our hotel. We spent around three to four hours touring around the city of Yokohama. In the evening, we met a number of delegates from the other 21 APEC economies, followed by a full briefing by the educators and organisers of the Voices of the Future Conference.

Thomas Ding

First year university student Thomas Ding hopes his studies in Health Sciences at the University of Otago will give the NZ Voices of the Future team a fresh perspective when they attend the APEC leaders’ summit in Japan in November. Thomas is particularly interested in discussing international health policy at the event but he is also looking forward to talking about national security, social welfare and environmental issues.

Thomas graduated from St Kentigern College in Auckland last year and during his senior years was involved with the NZ Voices of the Future conference 2009, the National Rotary Youth Science and Technology Forum and the Life Sciences Symposium for Asia-Pacific in Singapore. He has loved his first year in Dunedin and wants to continue his studies in one of the professional health science careers in 2011.

Matariki Williams

Matariki works for the Maori Trustee in Maori Land Administration and has just finished her second year of study at Victoria University in Wellington.

Matariki is most interested in the cultural angle of international relations, and in keeping these ties strong for the future. She is looking forward to the amazing opportunity and the chance to share her experiences with others, both in Yokohama and New Zealand.

Matariki graduated from Sacred Heart College in Napier in 2008, and is now undertaking a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.

Georgia Cameron

Georgia Cameron has just returned from a year spent working in England as a rowing coach and travelling throughout Europe. During the Leaders’ Summit in November, Georgia hopes to have the opportunity to interact with individuals from all walks of life who are working to make the ambition of a Free Trade Agreement a reality. She is excited to be one of the NZ “Voices” delegates at the Yokohama Summit after attending the 2009 APEC “Voices of the Future” Conference in Auckland.

Georgia is moving to Wellington in 2011 to take up a Russell McVeagh Law Scholarship and start a double degree in Law/Bachelor of Arts majoring in International Relations with the intention of working internationally in the Law & Trade sectors. She graduated from St Margaret’s College in 2009 with the International Baccalaureate Diploma, and had been involved in top NZ ranking hockey teams and rowing crews during her time at St Margaret’s and previously at Waikato Diocesan in Hamilton.

Bowen Pan

Bowen is a strategist in the Strategy & New Ventures team at Trade Me, New Zealand’s largest and most successful internet business. His current role sees him shape the firm’s corporate and business unit strategy, advise and execute on mergers & acquisitions and identify and build new businesses.

As a member of the Asia:NZ Foundation’s Young Leaders Network, he was one of the five delegates to represent the country in the inaugural NZ-Sino Youth Exchange in 2009. He is passionate about improving NZ’s standing in the OECD through entrepreneurship and has had extensive experience in the start-up and venture capital community through his involvement with the business planning competition, Spark Challenge and the start-up incubator, The ICEHOUSE. Bowen holds a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours and a Bachelor of Property from the University of Auckland.

Martin Mariassouce

VTM-NZ Trustee, Martin Mariassouce, is leading the Voices team to Yokohama.  Martin is a commercial development manager for Te Puni Kōkiri. Before achieving this position, he worked in numerous jobs, firstly joining the NZ Police (and producing professional army boys) until becoming a trainer in Skill NZ.

In Te Puni Kōkiri he sees a big chance for the development of Maori potential who “will be one-third of New Zealand’s population by 2050”. His involvement in NZ Voices of the Future and as a trustee of VTM-NZ, indicates that he strongly supports young people to become future leaders. Read more about Martin Mariassouce.

Dale Bailey

VTM-NZ Trustee Dale Bailey will accompany the Voices delegates to Japan. Dale has an extensive background in education, particularly the teaching of social studies and geography. He has worked on a wide variety of curriculum and professional projects and as an evaluator for the Education Review Office. Dale currently works as the Northern Area Manager of Career Services Rapuara, the government agency in New Zealand that provides independent career guidance and advice. Dale is very interested in heritage governance and management. He is an Honorary Life Member of the NZ Historic Places Trust and is currently the Deputy Chairman of the Auckland War Memorial Museum board.

We arrived in Singapore on Sunday. For the next eight days we were in a constant state of awe at the local ‘Voices of the Future’ and the Singapore Youth Council’s ability to organise and attend to every little detail in making our stay there as comfortable as possible. This group of young people met us at the airport, whisked us speedily to a waiting mini-van and supported us throughout the programme and finally farewelled us at the airport.

On Monday we visited His Excellency, Martin Harvey at the New Zealand High Commission, where we also met with James Soh, Executive Director of the National Youth Achievement Award Council. His Excellency explained the purpose of the High Commission role in cultivating international relationships and developing New Zealand interests abroad. He also answered questions that the very knowledgeable quartet had prepared for him. These covered career pathways for youth interested in international relations and global issues such as disarmament, environment, human rights, international security and its impact, if at all, on trade. Mr Soh also gave his view on Singaporean initiatives to promote racial harmony and equal rights. Our group left the High Commissioner’s office in high spirits and felt very proud to be New Zealanders.

The next three days were involved with the ‘Voices of the Future’ programme where youth delegates from the 21 economies attending were presented with a highly stimulating agenda including speeches from CEO’s and leaders such as Dr Vivian Balakrishnan (Minister of Community Development Youth and Sports – Singapore), Ho Kwon Ping (Executive Chairman – Banyan Tree Holdings). We were also afforded the privilege of visiting His Excellency, S R Nathan, President of Singapore at Istana (palace), the Ulu Ulu Night Safari, Botanical Gardens, the Youth Olympic Games Learning Centre and Marina Barrage Resevoir to further enrich our experience of this amazing country.

During this time the ABAC (business leaders from the APEC) members were in session and various groups of delegates were chosen to listen to and interview some business leaders, including Tony Nowell and Stephen Jacobi from New Zealand, Jusuf Wanandi, Dr Charles Morrison, Dennis M Nally, Michael Elliott (Time magazine), Teng Theng Dar (ABAC Chair), George Kirkland (Chevron).

On Friday and Saturday the APEC leaders summit was in session and the opportunity to observe this event was accepted wholeheartedly by all delegates. Various APEC leaders presented speeches with the overriding theme being the ‘global economy’. Some of the leaders that we listened to were the Prime Ministers of Singapore, Malaysia and our very own John Key. Every single APEC leader including Michelle Bachelet (Chile), Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (Indonesia), Kevin Rudd (Australia), Felipe Calderon (Mexico) and Dmitry Medvedev (Russia) had the opportunity to provide their view on the ‘global economic agenda’.

During this time the New Zealand delegation together with our United States counterparts were scheduled to have a private meeting with Prime Minister John Key. After being almost turned away by security, in spite of this event being pre-arranged, we were finally ushered into a meeting with the PM and his aides. Mr Key reported that he had talks with the various Heads of States. The main focus was to negotiate Free Trader Agreements. A special focus was the potential free trade with the USA via the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). Delegates also asked him questions and he gave his views on the political situation in Fiji, Sri Lankan asylum seekers and one of the USA delegates sought his view on NZ’s nuclear free stance.

At this stage it was Saturday afternoon and the hectic pace of APEC was taking its toll on all and sundry. Our hosts then took us to a grand venue for the closing ceremony where all regions came together to share their culture. Sunday was a free day and I grabbed the chance to do some sightseeing.

I am truly grateful to David Ward (NZ voices) for giving me the opportunity to become involved in this fantastic programme and the Headmaster for allowing me to take time off school.

Blair started off the questions by asking Mr Key what was on New Zealand’s agenda for the CEO summit. Ultimately, the New Zealand government wished to see significant progress in trade negotiation. Mr Key dropped the good news that an FTA with Hong Kong had just been established. New Zealand was also ‘cautiously optimistic’ that our involvement in the TPP would come to a fruitful conclusion. Indeed, the next day the US trade representative announced that the US had agreed to engage with the TPP member economies to establish an eventual FTA.

Kymberly then questioned the place of the Pacific Islands in APEC, and whether there is any sign that they are going to be accepted as members. Mr Key informed us that the moratorium for new membership closes next year, and has been more concerned with countries like India and Colombia. Currently, New Zealand represented some of the Pacific Nations interests at APEC. There remains a need to focus on building an economic hub in the pacific, because trade is very ‘one- sided’ at present. Only then can the Pacific Islands be included in APEC negotiations surrounding sustainable growth.

We then moved on to the more specific topic of Fiji. I had heard that, despite media outlets claiming political turmoil in Fiji, the general population were satisfied with Frank Bainimarama’s regime. I put the issue to Mr Key. He believed the entire issue was centred on the fundamentality of democracy, as this was the only system that allowed for fair representation of the populace. International politics operate in such a way that the need to uphold democracy has become essential. Thus, even if the Fijian people find the current situation workable, it is dangerous to appear to be condoning a government that is removed from democracy as it gained power in a coup. Therefore, New Zealand’s role was to support Fiji as it began to engage in a democratic process.

Matt was then brave enough to bring up the critical issue of the Indonesian Asylum Seekers, and whether or not we could expect their admission into New Zealand. As a hugely contentious issue, we youth delegates were unsure whether we would be granted an honest answer. However, our Prime Minister never faltered in directing his answers as honestly as possible. With situations involving asylum seekers and refugees, countries had to be wary not to set a precedent for themselves that would bind them to future decisions. This is why it was unlikely that New Zealand would accept asylum seekers after they had been rejected from Australian shores.

With the few moments remaining, Chris, one of the United States youth delegates, took his chance to ask a question that was very relevant to him and his fellow countrymen. He recalled the historically contentious relationship between New Zealand and the United States regarding nuclear issues. He then asked what the New Zealand government saw as a viable relationship with the United States for the future of nuclear disarmament. The Prime Minister began by reminding us of the key barriers to comprehensive disarmament: namely, the need for it to be an equal effort by all nations. The Obama administration had thus far expressed more commitment to multilateral nuclear disarmament than any other US administration. John Key believed this would lead to the US viewing New Zealand as an asset in the anti- nuclear fight, due to our traditional ‘clean- green’ reputation.

It was an honour to be granted such an up close and personal opportunity to converse with the Prime Minister. He was very engaging and provided much relevant information.

On leaving the airport, we were hit with a wave of intensely humid heat, which would follow us for the next week. Matt, Kymberly and I spent the day trawling the streets of Little India, in search of an authentic lunch, finally settling on chicken rice.

We caught a sight of Bugis Markets (a place we would return to again) before returning to the hotel to meet the fourth New Zealand Youth delegate. Having lived in Singapore for several months, Blair proved to be an invaluable source of knowledge. He took us to a hawkers centre in Kalang for dinner, a suburb far removed from the Singapore you see in postcards. Blair and Mahendra were daring with their meals, and Kym befriended some of the locals. It was a great night.

Having somewhat overcome the jetlag that had plagued us on Sunday, Monday dawned pleasantly cool compared to the furnace we had arrived in. Our lovely delegation helper Isabella joined us at the Ibis so as to introduce us to the MRT system, and bring us to the New Zealand High Commission. After successfully manoeuvring our way to Orchard Road, we embarked on the short walk to the Commission. Orchard Road was already in full preparation for Christmas, and it seemed the slogan to be found everywhere was ‘glitzy Christmas’. Needless to say, we were awestruck at the beauty of Singapore’s main shopping hub.

We arrived at the commission early. However, His Excellency Martin Harvey, as a true kiwi would, took it all in his stride and gave us a warm welcome. As eager delegates, the questions started immediately. After a brief introduction and biography, Mr Harvey gave us a fantastic account of his time at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and how he felt was the best way to move into this line of work. He assured us that MFAT did not specify the requirement of a background in economics, politics or law. Rather, the ministry were dedicated to maintaining diversity in their employees. As an aspiring diplomat, it was reassuring to hear that Government institutions in New Zealand are dedicated to these kinds of values.

Mr Harvey also mentioned the importance of diplomatic relations between Singapore and New Zealand, stressing the need to understand cultural differences whilst engaging in international negotiations. Often countries will differ dramatically on moral issues. A key example he used was the death penalty. But, a nation must keep in mind their political agenda so as to prioritise what is of most importance in the negotiations at hand. He paid lip service to the productive defence relationship shared by the two countries, citing the fact that groups from the Singaporean army often come to New Zealand to utilise our army facilities. Additionally, our connection through the Trans- Pacific Partnership meant that both countries were lobbying for the same successes.

As we were so early, Mr James Soh arrived when the session was well underway. Mr James Soh is the executive director of the National Youth Achievement Award Council, an organisation that was integral to the 2009 Voices programme. With his presence, we were able to ascertain a variety of opinions for the questions we asked.

We were interested in the immense effort Singapore was putting into ensuring its four official cultures could coexist harmoniously. Mr Soh assured us they were all on equal footing. However, this prompted us to question whether the social reality was the same, as people’s opinions can often transcend the law. Mr Soh believed there was bound to be a lingering disparity, such as that until very recently, none of the higher army positions were occupied by Muslims. The way forward is through education, and ensuring people understand and are accepting of government policy.

All in all, His Excellency offered us a rare insight into the matrix of international relations. It was an invaluable experience and proved to be most beneficial in the upcoming days.