Melissa Lee building solid relationships in lead-up to Ethnic Xchange Symposium

Ethnic Communities Minister Melissa Lee meets the Pacific Business Trust team. Photo / Supplied

Ethnic Communities Minister Melissa Lee is forging a stronger relationship with the Pacific Economic Development Agency in the lead-up to the sold-out ethnic communities business symposium to begin what she says is essential for economic growth in New Zealand.

“New Zealand is blessed to be one of the world’s most ethnically diverse countries, and as we look to rebuild our economy, this can be a huge advantage to our economic and global trading aspirations,” Lee told the Herald.

Lee was welcomed by the Pacific Business Trust (PBT) team on Wednesday before meeting with its chair and Wellington Businessman Paul Retimanu and its CEO Mary Los’e.

“Our businesses are not trading within our own ethnic ecosystem, we are operating in markets here and globally. Business is not a new concept for Pacific people and PBT is creating innovative ways to contribute to the future economy,” Los’e said.

Tomorrow Lee will be part of the symposium where guest speakers include Regulation Minister David Seymour, Minister of Finance Nicola Willis, Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins, Auckland Chamber of Commerce CEO Simon Bridges and business leaders at Auckland’s Cordis Hotel.

David Seymour and Nicola Willis are speaking at the ethnic symposium at the Cordis Hotel.

“One of my top priorities as Minister is to unlock the potential of our ethnic businesses. The inaugural Ethnic Xchange Symposium on Friday will be a valuable platform for Government and business, community and industry experts to collaborate and explore how we do this together.”

The inaugural Ethnic Xchange Symposium is dedicated to unlocking the full potential of ethnic businesses for the benefit of New Zealand.

Discussions will focus on trade, investment and innovation, including how ethnic businesses can support New Zealand’s trading aspirations. This includes their expertise in navigating offshore markets and international business environments.

The symposium will showcase the economic benefits that ethnic communities bring to New Zealand. It will highlight case examples in tech, clean energy, sustainability and AI. It will explore the practical steps needed to remove barriers to ethnic businesses making a bigger contribution to New Zealand’s economy.

“Ethnic communities contributed an estimated $64 billion to New Zealand’s economy in 2021. Ethnic communities are also the fastest-growing population group in New Zealand, tripling in size since 1996, and our country’s migrant employment rate is the highest within the OECD.

“It’s clear that there’s vibrant potential within our ethnic communities. This symposium focuses on unleashing that potential.”