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David McConnell Chair, Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED) Biography David is Managing Director and CEO of McConnell Group. McConnell Group is one of New Zealand’s leading property, construction and infrastructure groups and includes McConnell Property, Hawkins Construct ion, Hawkins Infrastructure, Steelpipe and Harker Underground Construction. His considerable business experience across property, construction and infrastructure is combined with a …

Steven Joyce Minister for Economic Development; Minister of Science and Innovation; Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment; Associate Minister of Finance Biography After completing a zoology degree at Massey University, Steven started his first radio station, Energy FM, in his home town of New Plymouth, at age 21. Along with two business partners, he built up The RadioWorks over …

5:30 AM Wednesday Oct 3, 2012 It has all the trappings of a hit movie – “Johnnie goes to Hollywood” – in which the Kiwi hero tries to inject more lifeblood into the NZ economy while a Great German Hulk flails about claiming New Zealand is in danger because US moguls are conspiring to capture the hero in their net. No …

By Stephen Jacobi So what was actually decided at the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Vladivostok? Not much if you take a glass-half-empty approach. It’s hard to get past the fact that APEC’s role is to be largely a forum for socialising ideas about economic policy that need to be put into practice elsewhere. That’s because unlike the …

Tim McCready, a London based New Zealand businessman, recently attended the APEC Summit in Vladivostok Russia. Take a look at the first of his fantastic videos from the conference, offering a unique Kiwi perspective on the event in addition to exclusive behind the scenes content.    

Vladivostok has got a lot going for it. But out in the ‘Gulag’ – the concrete monstrosity that the Russians have plonked on Russky Island – it wasn’t so hot. It wasn’t the shoddy building standards (lifts stopping mid-floor; toilet doors too large for their frames) but the E-coli bug that did in several NZ delegates there for the prestigious APEC CEOs …

Former Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard beat a swift retreat from the recent Russian APEC. Bollard clearly wasn’t used to being tracked by big ominous looking Russians and did not hang about after being announced as APEC’s new executive director.The APEC role is the ultimate when it comes to “herding cats” – aka the many officials from around the region who …

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully left has left the ‘Big Apple’ to visit Jamaica and Cuba for bilateral talks. McCully displayed considerable prowess at the United Nations where he delivered a cut-through address slamming the Security Council’s failure to deals with the mounting deaths in Syria. He wants the P5 – the club of five permanent council members; the US, Russia, …