June has been an exhilarating month for SBANZ! We hosted our very first networking event, bringing together ministers from New Zealand, diplomats from Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, and other ASEAN countries, alongside representatives from various prominent and well-established companies.
The event was a resounding success, filled with valuable insights and the formation of exciting new partnerships. It was a truly rewarding experience for SBANZ, NZMBA, and all the companies in attendance.
We can’t wait to welcome both new and familiar faces at our future events! Stay tuned for more updates!
A Showcase of Agricultural Innovation and International Collaboration
Fieldays 2024 at Mystery Creek in Hamilton was a standout event showcasing New Zealand’s agricultural innovations and promoting international collaboration. The Singapore Business Association New Zealand (SBANZ) and the NZ Malaysia Business Association Inc. (NZMBA) played crucial roles in supporting this event, alongside New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT). Key figures like Stuart Chapman, one of New Zealand’s prominent agricultural specialists, and Patrick Wilson of Stace Hammond Lawyers, known for their support of New Zealand’s emerging communities, were also involved.
The event attracted distinguished diplomats, including:
H.E. Mr. William Tan, Singapore High Commissioner to New Zealand
Ms. Feamor Vyn Tiosen, Second Secretary and Consul of the Philippines
Mr. Evangelino Sousa Gomes Da Silva, Counsellor & Deputy Head of Mission of Timor-Leste
Ms. Kalaivani Gohbal, Vice-Consul of the Agriculture Counsellor Office (ACO) Sydney, Consulate of Malaysia in Australia
Business leaders from Malaysia and Singapore explored innovative companies like Robotics Plus and Agrisea NZ Ltd. The Australian High Commissioner to New Zealand, H.E. Ms. Harinder Sidhu, also participated in insightful farm visits. These included Paul Bardoul’s dairy farm, Kaipaki Dairies, and Joginder Singh’s dairy, cattle, and sheep farm at Longsight Station in Waikato, organized by NZMBA.
These visits provided valuable insights into New Zealand’s advanced agricultural practices and highlighted the event’s role in fostering global agricultural partnerships. SBANZ is proud to have contributed to this international promotion effort in collaboration with our New Zealand partners.
H.E. MR William Tan giving a speech during the networking event.
With more than 70 participants present, we celebrate the wide spectrum of industry experts present from Venture Capitalists, Forestry and Wood Processing sectors, Food & Agri-Business and companies in the Solar sector that came together to explore collaborations, and discuss new business ideas.
We are grateful to have the support of many distinguished MPs and especially H.E Mr William Tan, High Commissioner of Singapore to New Zealand and Advisor to SBANZ here in Auckland for this event.
It is also with great honour for SBANZ to host and welcome B2G Energies Director Garry Tay and Kenneth Lim from Singapore who flew in to participate in this networking event.
SBANZ aims to help bridge the ties between Singapore and New Zealand, promote bilateral exchanges and capture regional business opportunities with our expertise of partners and support. We are excited to ramp up our efforts in this space and engage with more companies and business partners across markets on their path to internationalisation.
OCSC GLOBAL – MIGRATION & VISA SPECIALIST ; Chern Tan, Manager & Philip Ng, CEO of OCSC Global
SBANZ is thrilled to welcome OCSC Global to be a part of the community as our first Corporate Member. With over 33 years of experience, OCSC Global is a renowned immigration and relocation consultancy specializing in Visa Services, Permanent Residency, and Citizenship for New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and Singapore.
OCSC Global has been featured in prominent Singapore news outlets such as The Business Times, The Straits Times, South China Morning Post, and ZaoBaoSG. Additionally, they have garnered high ratings on both Google and Facebook, attesting to their outstanding service and customer satisfaction. We are confident that OCSC Global’s expertise will open numerous opportunities for our community.
In celebration of this new partnership, OCSC Global generously offers SBANZ members a complimentary 30-minute Zoom consultation. This session is designed to help you explore your migration options and navigate the complexities of the immigration process with ease.
Coffee meeting with Simon Bridges from Auckland Business Chamber, Dave Ananth and Roshidah Mangnall from NZMBA
Last week, Singapore Business Association New Zealand (SBANZ) and New Zealand Malaysia Business Association (NZMBA) met with former National Party leader and Transport Minister Simon Bridges in Auckland.
Mr Bridges, who is now the chairman of Auckland Business Chamber and NZ Land Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, gave us an insightful perspective on how we can foster stronger ties between the chambers. Together, we discussed opportunities to boost bilateral trade between Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand.
We also shared with Mr Bridges on what’s upcoming for Fieldays 2024 – how SBANZ is collaborating with NZMBA to create networking opportunities with ambassadors, high commissioners, local and foreign delegates. Our dialogue was fruitful and we anticipate more of such exchanges with fellow business chambers in the near future.
We are proud to share that His Excellency Mr William Tan Wei Yuan, Singapore’s High Commissioner to New Zealand, has joined Singapore Business Association New Zealand (SBANZ) as an Advisor.
Mr Tan was appointed as the High Commissioner last year and was previously the Director-General of the Technical Co-operation Directorate, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore from 2019 to 2023. He is no stranger to our community, having recently attending our annual Lunar New Year Gathering in Auckland, where we connected as fellow Singaporeans living abroad and ushered in the new year together.
We thank Mr Tan for his gracious support and are delighted to have him on board for our new journey ahead.
On Thursday, 18 April 2024, we held our first meeting with New Zealand Malaysia Business Association (NZMBA) to discuss our upcoming collaboration for Fieldayshappening from 12 to 14 June in Hamilton. Known as New Zealand’s largest annual agricultural event, Fieldays is a massive project that will involve New Zealand government representatives, trade delegates, ambassadors and businesses from all over the world.
The following committee members from both associations were present:
SBANZ : President Tan Eng Wan, Deputy Vice President Sunil Khemlani, Secretary Tok Xie Ying, Events Co-ordinator Olivia Su, Founding Member Fay Seah
NZMBA : President Dave Ananth, Treasurer Roshidah Mangnall, Secretary Pam Louis
We kickstarted the meeting by sharing our respective updates and progress with regards to preparation for Fieldays. In addition, we made it a priority to establish and align our goals and objectives for our first joint collaboration.
Given the immense scale and number of days involved for this event, we conducted a deep dive on the programme outline, logistic arrangements and marketing efforts involved from both sides to ensure all our bases are covered. With local government representatives planning to attend, we also discussed which foreign trade delegates and international ambassadors we should host.
All of us agreed that this may be our first collaboration, but it is clear that there are many more opportunities that makes sense for us to pool together our resources and branch out our network. Together with NZMBA, we are confident that we can make Fieldays a launchpad that will help businesses and investments thrive in the growing agritech space. Do look forward to more details that will be shared on our event page.
The Singapore Business Association New Zealand (SBANZ) held its first inauguration meeting last Friday, 8 March 2024. This marks the official incorporation of the organisation in New Zealand.
We invited Singaporeans who are working professionally in Auckland and those from the Working Holiday Group for our networking session. Many thanks to Kadir Satay for providing an assortment of authentic Singaporean Malay Food that truly brought a taste of home to everyone in attendance.
Keep an eye out for more SBANZ activities in the future and we look forward to seeing new faces at our next event.
