Transcript
Susan Bakani travelled from Papua New Guinea to promote her newly formed business called Artisan Culture. Her products include bowls and walking sticks carved from wood sourced from Milne Bay province, baskets and hand fans woven from dried pandanus leaves. Ms Bakani says her business began as a way to promote and preserve the weaving culture of Papua New Guinea.
"I see that the culture is fading due to so much outside world influence. However, the skills are still there and its hoping that through my business I'm able to bring that back, alive, get the village people to continue, especially the women to continue to weave."
More than 35 small to medium size businesses from twelve Pacific Island countries have come for the market. For most of them, it's their first time in New Zealand. Sylvia Kloulubak from Palau runs a home-based business selling glass bead jewellery that aims to preserve her country's history. She says early Palauans used beads made of coloured glass or high-fired clay as money in a complex exchange system.
"In the ancient time the money that came to Palau, we don't actually know where it came from, but it is glass, but it went out of commission because it's very easy to counterfeit, but it was actual money for the women of long time ago and I'm hoping to do this as a sort of preservation that it was once our money before."
Matairea Bessert from Tahiti has been building his clothing brand Nesian for four years and says it is time to expand to the overseas market. Mr Bessert says he was excited to receive the invitation to attend Pacific Trade Invest New Zealand's five-day programme as it fits the vision of his brand.
"Four years ago, yes, I design the logo and the logo is a triangle for the Pacific triangle with three rays for each summit. One for Hawai'i, second for Aotearoa and third for Rapa Nui and when I draw the logo I know one day I will go to New Zealand."
Pacific Trade Invest New Zealand's Trade Commissioner, Michael Greenslade, says watching the small to medium exporters grow as individuals is inspiring.
"Not only sort of grow individually as people, but their businesses and their families because many of these people are representing families and family businesses and Auckland in many ways is pretty much part of the Pacific and the opportunity really means that they can make the odd mistake in NZ and be forgiven and come back again for a second or third bite of the cherry."
The Cook Islands-based skincare range Te Tika bioactive oils, has proven it is possible for Pacific businesses to make inroads. Matheson Enterprise is the distributor for Te Tika's products and its managing director Jenny Henry says they have just sealed a partnership deal with a Cook Island fashion store based in New Zealand.
"We will be launching in TAV. In fact we've just signed up to be featuring Te Tika in our first distributor in New Zealand is TAV and I think it's a good partner pair, having our luxury premium skincare brand alongside their premium clothing line is a special connection being two products from the Cook Islands."
The businesses which took part in the programme learnt a number of practical steps to expanding their exports, hoping to one day become household names in markets beyond the Islands.
