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Wednesday 7 June 2006
The New Zealand Centre for Latin American Studies (NZCLAS and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT hosted a meeting of New Zealand/Latin America Stakeholders at Old Government House, University of Auckland on 7 June 2006.
46 people attended the meeting, representing academia, business, cultural organisations, NGOs, New Zealand Government and Latin American Embassies. A full list of attendees is attached.
Chancellor of the University of Auckland Sir Hugh Fletcher opened the meeting, noting his historical involvement with Latin America and the vast opportunities for cooperation.
Matthew O’Meagher , Director, NZCLAS, outlined NZCLAS’s objectives and its work plan for 2007. Its two broad objectives were to advance a research agenda and foster exchange of knowledge and expertise about Latin America in New Zealand. In this context, he said that NZCLAS was prepared to continue playing a co-ordination role for stakeholders. While eventually he would like to see the creation of a NZ/Latin America Foundation, the conditions for that did not currently exist and would need to be created through predecessor arrangements.
Christine Bogle , Americas Division, MFAT, noted that in its response to the report of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Select Committee on New Zealand’s relations with Latin America, the government had undertaken to facilitate a meeting of organisations with an interest in Latin America to a enable them to discuss better co-ordination of current activities and b exchange views on medium-to longer-term strategies for promoting links with Latin America. She provided an update on the government’s Latin America Strategy, noting that it had been reviewed favourably and renewed by Cabinet, with priorities outlined for the period ahead. The Latin America Strategy Fund would continue at the level of NZ$250,000 per annum. Bogle invited participants to submit proposals for projects that might fit the Fund’s criteria.
Alastair Hercus , Chair of the Latin America New Zealand Business Council (LANZBC, outlined the nature and function of the Council. He explained that LANZBC had supported investigating the idea of an “institution” to support and build links with Latin America, even though it recognised that a “Foundation” was a long way off.
Carl Worker , Director of MFAT’s Americas Division, invited participants to address two groups of issues: risks and opportunities; and vision and strategies to promote NZ/Latin America relations.
Most participants addressed the theme of co-ordination. Several noted that there was plenty of activity in different areas involving several organisations and expressed an interest in promoting greater communication among them. It would be good to identify opportunities to combine activities. A few speakers suggested that an institution or Foundation could address the communication issue, but most stated that making better use of existing organisations and promoting information sharing was the best way forward at present. The key was to make each other aware of activities and look for opportunities to combine efforts when appropriate. This could also help to create a shared sense of purpose and direction, including in academic research.
Some participants felt that increased funding was needed to support an institution. Other participants questioned whether increased funding was actually necessary or realistic at this point. There was no readily identifiable source of significant new funds. There was a risk of spreading existing resources too thinly.
Several speakers stressed the importance of trade and investment in driving the relationship. While agreeing that this was important, others noted the critical role of NZCLAS, for example, which contributed to a more holistic approach to relations with Latin America. All elements of the relationship (people-to-people, cultural, political needed to be addressed. The wide range of interests among stakeholders was actually a strength.
A desire to ensure that all of New Zealand was considered when pursuing relations with Latin America was raised by a few speakers, particularly those from outside Auckland. Victoria University of Wellington, through its representation on the NZCLAS Board, offered to work with others to investigate the creation of an NZCLAS chapter in Wellington.
A further idea was to consider holding an annual New Zealand/Latin America Stakeholders Forum along the lines of the 7 June meeting at different venues around the country, with host institutions joining NZCLAS and MFAT as a co-host.
Dr Paul Buchanan , NZCLAS noted that New Zealand shared objectives with Latin America in attempting to maximise their respective competitive advantage. The key question for stakeholders to consider now was “where do we want to be in 5-10 years?” If relations develop, there may be a case to be made to government for a Foundation.
In summary, Carl Worker noted the strength and quality of attendance at the meeting and the wide range of New Zealand/Latin America linkages that had been discussed. This underlined the progress achieved in recent years. Government commitment remained strong in the form of the recently renewed Latin America Strategy. But with the wider relationship still at a “pioneering stage”, we also had to be realistic. The development of trade and economic links over time would open new possibilities for organisations to take the relationship forward. But clearly there was a wide sense that a dedicated Foundation was a goal for the longer term and at this stage the priority should be to improve information flows and collaboration between existing New Zealand/Latin America stakeholders. Several practical ideas had been put forward that could be pursued to this end including sharing contact lists; linking websites; sharing work plans; acting jointly where possible; and generally proceeding in a consultative way. The idea of a possible extension of NZCLAS to take in other academic bases had been raised for discussion between interested academic institutions. Also for further consideration was the idea of an annual New Zealand/Latin America Stakeholders Forum event possibly to be held and co-hosted in different centres around the country.
Sir Hugh Fletcher, Chancellor, Auckland University, v.pettit@auckland.ac.nz
Chris Tremewan Pro Vice Chancellor International, Auckland c.tremewan@auckland.ac.nz
Otago: Professor Alistair Fox, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Humanities representing David Skegg, maree.watson@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
Waikato : Professor Shayne Quick Pro Vice-Chancellor, International, j.carmichael@waikato.ac.nz
Matthew O’Meagher, Coordinator, NZCLAS m.omeagher@auckland.ac.nz
Warwick Murray VUW, NZCLAS Warwick.Murray@vuw.ac.nz
Rob Rabel VUW/Otago University rob.rabel@vuw.ac.nz
Paul Buchanan Auckland University, NZCLAS pa.buchanan@auckland.ac.nz
Lynette Read, Faculty of Arts, Auckland University, l.read@auckland.ac.nz
Julie Cupples Canterbury University julie.cupples@canterbury.ac.nz
Tom Barnes, Auckland University, t.barnes@auckland.ac.nz will attend the first half hour of the meeting only
Brian Lynch VUW Brian.Lynch@vuw.ac.nz
Walescka Pino-Ojeda Auckland University, NZCLAS w.pino-ojeda@auckland.ac.nz
Kathryn Lehman, NZCLAS k.lehman@auckland.ac.nz
Greg Bankoff, Auckland University, g.bankoff@auckland.ac.nz
Dan Zirker, Waikato University, dzirker@waikato.ac.nz
Bryan Read English Language Academy b.read@auckland.ac.nz
Jorge Paredes, Otago University jorge.paredes@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (Uni of Otago and Latin American Studies Programme
Elizabeth Francis, President of North Shore AFS Chapter, Tammy.Heppenstall@afs.org
Carl Worker, Director, Americas Division, MFAT, carl.worker@mfat.govt.nz
Christine Bogle, Deputy Director, Americas Division, MFAT, christine.bogle@mfat.govt.nz
Mike Shaw, Americas Division, MFAT, mike.shaw@mfat.govt.nz
Danny Burkhard, Americas Division, MFAT, danny.burkhard@mfat.govt.nz
Kari White, NZTE, kari.white@nzte.govt.nz
Neil Scotts, Ministry of Education neil.scotts@minedu.govt.nz
Jacob de Feijter on behalf of John Hay, ERL john.hay@esr.cri.nz
Michael Lay-Yee on behalf of Paul McGilvary, CEO Hortresearch pmcgilvary@hortresearch.co.nz
Ambassador of Peru, His Excellency Mr Javier Leon peru.ambassador@xtra.co.nz
Ambassador of Mexico, Her Excellency Mrs Maria Angelica Arce de Jeannet angelica.mexico@xtra.co.nz
Ambassador of Argentina, His Excellency Mr Pedro Herrera prh@arg.org.nz accompanied by Second Secretary Mr Gustavo Méndez
Sérgio Taam, Chargé d' Affaires of Brazil
Gustavo Diaz, Chargé d' Affaires , Chile echile@embchile.co.nz
Andres Peleaz, Second Secretary, Embassy of Uruguay - resident in Canberra urucan@iimetro.com.au
Alastair Hercus, Chair LANZBC, lastair.hercus@buddlefindlay.com
Fergus McLean, Executive Director LANZBC fmclean@xtra.co.nz
Kimberly Hoggard, Fonterra kimberly.hoggard@fonterra.com
Gerry Williams, Pacific Basin Exports gerry@pbex.co.nz
Rosangela Tenorio, NZCLAS Rosangela.Tenorio@creative.auckland.ac.nz
Clare Callow, Agritour clare@agritour.co.nz
Alasdair Thompson of the Employers and Manufacturers Association, ema@ema.co.nz
Dave Catty, Auckland Chamber of Commerce, mbarnett@chamber.co.nz
Ann Mellor, LAN Airlines a.mellor@walshegroup.co.nz
Carlos Garcia, Coordinator, Wellington Spanish and Latin American Club carlosg@xtra.co.nz
Juliana Areias, NewBrazealand – Brazilian Singer and website owner, jvmendes@xtra.co.nz
Heidi Hughes, Director, Jambalaya Festival, heidi@jambalaya.co.nz
