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President's Message Dear members. Wishing you a safe and Happy New Year. We look forward to seeing you at our events throughout the coming year. Sincerely, Nerella Campigotto Member Spotlight Western Management Consultants (WMC) Western Management Consultants (WMC) is one of the longest standing and most respected Canadian names in management consulting. Remaining independent and objective, we have been providing innovative solutions to large and small clients for nearly 50 years. We service a broad range of clients within the private and public sectors, and this diverse portfolio of experience allows us to advise and interact with a variety of professionals at every level of an organization. When you engage WMC, you benefit from close collaborations with senior experts who bring depth of experience over a broad range of disciplines. Our clients appreciate the efficiency of working directly with practitioners with proven expertise and competence.  WMC specializes in Strategy, Leadership & Transformation across seven primary disciplines: Strategic Advisory Operations and Performance Improvements People Services Marketing and Customer Strategy Executive Search Information Technology Organisational Change Management Events Australia Day - Waitangi Day, 30 January 2020 AI/VR Presentation, details TBA ANZAC Day Commemmeration, April 25 2020  Sport Australia v New Zealand: The sky's the limit for this team 2019 the year for women in Australian sport NRL - a decade in review Organisational Change Manage NRL - a decade in review

Wow it’s been a whirlwind five months here in Vancouver for my family and I. For those who do not know me I’m the new Consul General covering British Columbia and Trade Commissioner covering Canada, based in Vancouver. Previous to this posting, we lived in Malaysia for four and half years, where I was New Zealand’s Trade Commissioner.

It has been an amazing lead up to Christmas here and a big contrast to the long sunny days, BBQs and Beaches back in New Zealand. The lights are amazing, and we have managed to get up Grouse Mountain to check out what real winter is like!Thankfully the transition was easy with Canada being such a similar culture to New Zealand and probably more so because of the great support Nick Fleming (my predecessor) and his wife gave us while we transitioned up here.

Canada and New Zealand share a close affinity for one another, with similar legal, government and social traditions and therefore it is not surprising that Canada is New Zealand’s 12th largest export market with exports valued at NZ$1.179 billion in 2019. Also, important to note is that New Zealand (and Australia) has its first trade agreement with Canada (called CPTPP) and now virtually all our products coming into Canada are duty free, which will give our companies an edge over competitors.

This year at New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE), we have directly helped over 100 New Zealand companies right across the Canadian market. Even in my short time here, the team done great things to help our companies grow bigger, better and fast here in Canada.

In October, we hosted the first inaugural Taste of New Zealand Chefs Event where 14 of our top New Zealand food and beverage companies where connected to key contacts in the hospitality industry including chefs and distributors. NZTE partnered with industry influencers to extend our digital reach and showcase the fine New Zealand dishes and drinks to over 636,000 chefs and industry professionals through social media platforms.

In November, we held a networking reception at the Helicopter Association of Canada 2019 conference. A total of 120 helicopter industry representatives attended where we introduced the them to a delegation of nine New Zealand companies focused on the helicopter industry. These types of events help raise the profile and the impact of New Zealand expertise and reinforce national synergies between Canada and New Zealand. For example, did you know that British Columbia and New Zealand share the records for the largest number of helicopters in operation per capita?

Also, in November we hosted a strong delegation of Maori businesses here during the World Indigenous Business Forum. It was great to see connections being made in the Food & Beverage, Tourism and Tech Sectors. Watch this space for more activities in the New Year.

One thing that has surprised me is that despite a lot of effort from Canada, Australia and New Zealand, there is still not a lot of awareness of the CPTPP trade agreement and how it benefits our businesses. This is something the team and I are going to focus on in the New Year and would love CANZBA members’ support to help spread the word.

To all those I have had the pleasure to meet so far and to those I have not (and hope to soon), all the best for the New Year.

Ngā mihi, kia kaha!

Matt Ritchie

Consul General and Trade Commissioner