Minister visits Victoria’s Auckland premises hosted by VILLA and LANZBC
The first visit by a Minister of the Crown to Victoria’s new offices in Auckland took place on Friday 19 June, when Hon Steven Joyce—Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment—spoke at an event jointly hosted by Victoria’s Institute for Links with Latin America (VILLA- cross disciplinary institution which includes SGEES staff ) and the Latin America New Zealand Business Council (LANZBC).
The first visit by a Minister of the Crown to Victoria’s new offices in Auckland took place on Friday 19 June, when Hon Steven Joyce—Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment—spoke at an event jointly hosted by Victoria’s Institute for Links with Latin America (VILLA- cross disciplinary institution which includes SGEES staff ) and the Latin America New Zealand Business Council (LANZBC).
Minister Joyce spoke to an audience of 40 businesses or educational institutions about the opportunities for New Zealand education and trade he saw during his April mission to Chile, Colombia and Brazil. After welcomes from LANZBC President and International Engagement team member Dr Matthew O’Meagher, VILLA Chair and PVC International Engagement Professor Roberto Rabel, and VILLA Director Professor Warwick Murray, he began by acknowledging the presence of Vice-Chancellor Professor Grant Guilford on his April mission.
The Minister had wanted to see if Latin America should be higher on New Zealanders’ radars, and came away excited by the opportunities there. Within one long haul flight from New Zealand, serviced by improving air links, and with a projected 600 million consumers by 2030, the region offers potential for business in education, agribusiness, ICT, food and beverage, and manufacturing. Both Chile and Colombia are very interested in New Zealand’s innovation model, and there are good prospects with them around the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Pacific Alliance. There are also New Zealand companies succeeding in Brazil, and while there he had an excellent meeting with Brazil’s new Education Minister.
To fulfil the potential in the relations with all three countries, the Minister said there was a need for a much higher level of engagement from New Zealanders. He also responded to questions on scholarships, the promotion of languages, and aid projects, and stressed the importance of universities’ subject rankings and the need to better promote our domestic fees for international PhD students.
All present at the event found it a fascinating exchange of views. VILLA and the LANZBC are grateful to Rachel Manirakiza and her Auckland team for the outstanding hospitability they arranged.