President's Report 2018

Transcription

1 President's Report 2018 DR. VIVIENNE HUNT NEW ZEALAND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AGM, 19TH SEPTEMBER 2018 OVERVIEW This has been an excellent year for the Chamber when we have celebrated 35 years in Singapore. Individual membership has been steady and we have increased the number of Corporate members, attracted a new sponsor and recorded a significant improvement in the financial year-end results. We have rebuilt the website, integrating it into the EventBank membership database and events platform. We increased the diversity of member events introducing two new series, the Beehive Briefings when Ministers/Members of Parliament are visiting and The Breakfast of Champions series in partnership with GEMS. MEMBERSHIP Individual membership currently stands at 337 which includes corporate nominees. We introduced a Couples membership package and re-worked our corporate membership to increase the number of corporate members from 42 to 65. Results of a membership survey, seeking feedback from members and other stakeholders in our community, will be available later in the month. EVENTS Post the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held 28 September 2017 we held a strategy planning workshop to re-define our focus and plans for It was agreed that the purpose of the Chamber is to help New Zealand businesses and members connect, promote and grow their opportunities in Singapore and the region. Connect, Promote and Grow have therefore been the guiding principles for the 25 events we have run since then. This compares with 17 events last year. A summary of these events follows. ANZ Aotearoa Ball 25 August 2018 The most recent event, the ANZ-AOTEAROA Ball was held on the 25 th of August with a sell-out crowd. At time of reporting the final figures are not yet in, but initial reports show that 524 guests and members attended. Feedback has been very positive about the showcasing of New Zealand through the theme of Into the Wilderness. Musicians Tiki Taane and Jayson Norris were much appreciated. The Ball Committee are currently collecting member and sponsor

2 feedback and will work with the Event Organisers to debrief and consider how to improve this long running and successful event of the Chamber. Kiwi Networking Drinks (KND): June 28, April 25, Feb. 20, Nov. 30, Oct. 26 Following the analysis of attendance and member feedback we decided to reduce the frequency of the traditional KNDs to once every other month. In total five KND s have been held since the AGM. Three of them were in association with other Chambers, the Irish, Canadian, American and Australian Chambers. Our ANZAC celebration was held with the Australian, British, Irish and Canadian Chambers and we were joined by some of the Rugby Seven team players in Singapore for the sevens tournament. The KND on June 28 was held at Trouble Brewing to celebrate our 35 th Anniversary of operating in Singapore. Former presidents, Ken Hixon, Steven Robertson and Martin Aitchison gave us highlights of their time leading the Chamber. Getting a Grip on Intangibles 5 April 2018 For this event we partnered with KEA, hosting an event that featured Tim Norton CEO of 90 Seconds, Tyler Capson, MD Everedge Global and Fu Zhikang, from IP Value Lab who each shared their stories about New Zealand and Singapore companies use of intangibles, providing useful insights on the resources available for companies in Singapore. International Women s Day 15 March 2018 On Thursday, March 15 over 65 likeminded women (and men) gathered at the boardroom of the ANZ Bank Singapore to celebrate International Women s Day. We had selected a panel of women leaders from Norway, New Zealand, Australia and Singapore to share insights on leadership in Singapore. Moderated by American, Dr Indigo Triplett, the audience heard from women leaders in a range of fields which included shipping, science, banking and law. There were a number of common themes and stories. Hosted by ANZ and sponsored by Fonterra both of whom have Leadership, Diversity and Inclusion programmes, the event was a great success and the Boardroom was at capacity. A Special Interest Group of NZ Professional Women, Asia has since been formed with a working group planning a launch in November. Beehive Briefing Series Launched 27 February, 13 April, 6, 9 June 2018 On 22 February we partnered with ANZ to launch the first of our Beehive Briefing Series hosting a breakfast with the Minister of Finance, the Honourable Grant Robertson who shared

3 his plans for a budget based on Well-Being Economics. Since then, in partnership with the NZ High Commission, we have run a series of Beehive Briefings welcoming Ministers and visiting Members of Parliament getting updates from them when they are in Singapore. These have included Rt Hon Trevor Mallard, Hon Megan Woods, Hon Claire Curran, Hon James Shaw, and Hon Amy Adams. GEMS Breakfast of Champions Series 20 February, 25 April 2018 Sponsored by GEMS this breakfast series of talks about high performance was launched in February with a talk by Dr Richard Swinburne, Head of Nutrition at the Singapore Institute of Sports. Drawing on data collected with the Hurricanes, Richard gave us the facts about sleep and its impact on performance. Gordon Tietjens was our second speaker in this series giving us an inspirational talk over breakfast supplied by Baker and Cook about what it takes to establish a team s winning attitude. Waitangi Day 11 February 2018 Waitangi Day was again a big success this year with attendance topping 1200 at the AIS school grounds. The band, Av Dads led by Board Member, Rory Fitzpatrick were a great hit as were all the New Zealand sourced sausages, barbecued lamb, wine, beer and ice-cream. Other Events These include smaller events as follows; Des Trigg s talk on tax for expat New Zealanders planning to return home; NZ Story roundtable lunch with Rebecca Smith; two launchpads in association with AustCham, and an Asia After 5 evening with the Asia NZ Foundation. SPONSORSHIP Premium Sponsors: Silver Sponsors: Corporate Memberships: ANZ, AIS NZTE, Fonterra, Air NZ, GEMS, AAM Advisory, Zespri, Allied Pickfords 65 (New/updated members include Beca, Mutant Communications, Moa Tiki, NZ Fulvic, The Virtual Room, Oakwood Studios, Fomana Capital, Beauty Care Strategies, Moon equity, ACG. EverEdge International, Global from Day One, NZX, Zana Capital, Furnware) New sponsor agreement: GEMS

4 YEAR END ACCOUNTS The financial accounts for the year to March 2018 record a significant improvement on the previous year. Year-end March 2018 showed a net profit at S$29,177 profit compared with a loss of $30,393 for the year ended March Much of the improvement is due to an increase in event income and some savings as a result of outsourcing our accounts. Sponsorship income has increased by around $5000. Membership income has remained steady. The balance sheet shows that accumulated funds for the year end at $65,040 compared with $35,863 in The timing of invoicing of sponsors in 2017 was better aligned to the contract dates resulting in the receivables and deferred income being reduced from 2017 to OPERATIONS Staff Our Executive Director, Danica Burke has managed a very successful programme of events, rationalising the range of events, bringing in new sponsors, implementing revised corporate memberships per the board recommendations and managing the implementation of a new platform, EventBank. Despite some early teething issues this programme has simplified and stream-lined our operations. She has been ably supported by Events Manager, Monica Portillo, who runs events and manages much of our social media and communications. Together, they have managed an additional eight events since last September. They have been supported by volunteers Elaine McGough and more recently Michaela Taylor. New Look and Communication Programme Danica has successfully introduced a new Community newsletter to showcase the businesses of our members, providing content articles to support business promotion in the community. There has been very positive feedback from members and other stakeholder about the quality of the weekly newsletters as well as the new logo that she commissioned and designed with the help of Dave Clarke Design. OTHER DEVELOPMENTS Centre for Asia Pacific Excellence (CAPE) 12 January, 20 April 2018 The South East Asia Centre for Asia Pacific Excellence has engaged with the Chamber to support two student-led tours. One of these involved the Young Enterprise Trust and a

5 Dragons Den with year 12 students from across New Zealand teaming up with students from Raffles Institution. A panel of judges evaluated the ideas and announced a winner. It was exciting to see how the Kiwi students worked with their Singaporean counterparts to come up with novel technology-based applications. NZ ASEAN Business Alliance 24 August 2018 A working group, set up to foster collaboration between the NZ Chambers in South East Asia has continued to meet every six weeks via conference calls. The Chamber hosted the 2nd inter-regional meeting on 24 August with members from Malaysia, Myanmar and NZ attending. A three-year work plan was agreed to build linkages between the NZ Chambers in region with shared calendars and setting up Special Interest Groups (SIGs) as follows; Women in Business, digital/technology and education. A Press Release on the meeting outcomes will be published shortly. NZ-SG History Project Pikorua Work on this project has continued and we have agreed to work with Victoria University Business School whose students will work on capturing information and developing a record of the many examples of business success between New Zealand and Singapore. These stories will provide an important record of the business history between our two countries. NZ Professional Women s Group Asia A working group chaired by Wendy Baker has been set up to provide support for women working in NZ Chambers both in Singapore and across SEA. This will be launched later this year. Board Update We have had an active Board with members who have all contributed over the past year. In particular, Nick Vanderkolk, Vice President provided excellent support and led a sponsorship review with Kevin Ha; Tania O Brien, who as Treasurer worked hard to iron out our accounts as we transitioned from an internal appointee to using an accounting firm; Mark Thomas who convened the Audit committee and strategy review; and Lisa Reta, who led a review of all events to provide some key insights on timing and profitability. New members since the AGM are James Lowrey (ANZ) who was co-opted to cover a vacancy left when Ben Smith resigned earlier this year. Hamish Gowans (Fonterra) and Chris Wilson (Simmonds Stewart) were co-opted to fill vacancies not filled at the AGM. Both Hamish and

6 James have contributed to upgrading sponsorships and Chris Wilson helped us improve our sponsor/partner agreements. Thank you to Rory Fitzpatrick who helped implement EventBank, was both a fantastic MC and musician at our Waitangi Day celebration and who chaired the Ball Committee supported by Lisa Reta and Kevin Ha. Kevin Ha is stepping down from the Board having served two years. Thank you, Kevin, for your efforts. I would like to thank Ben Smith who resigned from the Board in February after serving as a member for over five years. Ben led the Ball Committee last year and started the new trend of ensuring a profitable event. I would like to thank New Zealand s Trade Commissioner, Hayley Horan for her input as a Board observer over the year and for NZTE s ongoing support. I am stepping down as President having served a two-year term in this role and, as I make plans to return to New Zealand next year. The new Board will need to re-elect the roles of President, Vice President and Treasurer as per our Constitution, Tania O Brien will step down as Treasurer after a two-year term. Nick Vanderkolk, Rory Fitzpatrick, Hamish Gowans, James Lowrey, Tania O Brien and Chris Wilson will stand for re-election to the Board. Mark Thomas and Lisa Reta will serve another year. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the support we receive from the NZ High Commission noting in particular Dr Jonathan Austin, Laura Grey and Katrina Trewern who support our events. The support from NZINC, our sponsors and partners ensure the New Zealand Business Community is connected and engaged in Singapore.