Kia Ora! New Zealand-ASEAN celebrate 40 years

MANILA, Philippines - People to people relationships underpin diplomatic relationships between governments. This is why on the 40th anniversary of the dialogue partnership between New Zealand and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), 40 individuals from the 10 Southeast Asian nations will be recognized for their contributions in strengthening the relationship between New Zealand and ASEAN.

“Every relationship between countries is primarily on the national level between the governments,” New Zealand Minister for Economic Development Steven Joyce tells STARweek.

“But actually it has another level. The ties between people who stepped up and developed the relationship with the other country,” he adds.

Joyce – also the minister for regulatory reform; science and innovation; and tertiary education, skills and employment – led the awarding of five Filipino individuals who have contributed to strengthening and deepening the ties between New Zealand and the Philippines and the rest of ASEAN.

“The objective is to express our appreciation for the contribution that five outstanding Filipinos have made to the bilateral relationship of New Zealand in the year that we are commemorating the 40th anniversary of (our partnership with) ASEAN,” New Zealand’s Ambassador to the Philippines David Strachan says.

“This is an increasingly important relationship for New Zealand and we’re delighted to say thank you in our own humble way to these people,” he adds.

The five Filipino awardees are: Donald Dee, Ethel Hope Dignadice-Villaflor, Richard Tantoco, Wilfred Steven Uytengsu, and Philip Yao.

“Our goal is to continue to build partnerships with the Philippines and with the region,” said Joyce during the awarding ceremonies in Makati City recently.

“These partnerships start with and they ultimately depend on the commitment of people who see the benefits of the countries working together; committed individuals who work hard for the advancement of the relationship between two countries,” said the minister.

The Awardees: Donald Dee

Dee is the honorary chairman and chief operating officer of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He was also a special trade envoy during the previous administration, and has led a trade mission in 2007.

He was also a former council member of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council-Philippines, and is currently a New Zealand Trade Enterprise Beachheads Advisor for the Philippines with a focus on supporting companies with their business strategy and scenario planning.

“I didn’t expect it,” Dee tells STARweek when asked about the recognition. “I was invited a few years ago to help them, the New Zealand investors who want to come to ASEAN. I accepted, it was a chance to bring them to the Philippines.”

Dee emphasized the importance of having the private sector take part in the relationship between countries.

“When a government is working very closely with the private sector, you will see a lot of improvement in human relations,” he adds.

Ethel Hope Dignadice-Villaflor

Villaflor is one of the co-founders of the New Zealand Alumni Association of the Philippines, which is composed of Philippine-based alumni of academic institutions in New Zealand.

She is an alumni of Victoria University of Wellington, where she took a master of public management degree. She attended the university as part of the New Zealand government’s ASEAN Scholars program.

Following its founding in 2013, the association has been active in supporting events that seek to contribute in the growing bilateral and people-to-people links between the two countries.

“We want to give back to New Zealand because they adopted us (during our stay at the universities),” she says.

Villaflor, who is also the secretary of the committee on government corporations and public enterprise in the Senate, said they hope to encourage more Filipino students to study in New Zealand, as well as entice students there to study in the Philippines.

Richard Tantoco

Tantoco is the president and chief operating officer of the Energy Development Corp. (EDC), which is working with a range of companies and specialists from the New Zealand energy sector to support its activities in the Philippines.

EDC was created in the 1970s with the support of the New Zealand Aid Programme to the Philippines to develop its geothermal energy industry. The company also sends its staff to the geothermal course at Auckland University for their professional development.

Also a proponent of the New Zealand Alumni Association, Tantoco has continuously encouraged the company’s alumni to take part in the association’s activities.

“We worked a lot with New Zealand engineers and it’s their heritage of having very strong engineering culture and discipline that actually makes it comfortable for our company,” he says.

“It’s a great honor to be recognized as a representative of the company that improved bilateral relations between the two countries,” he adds.

Tantoco says working with companies in New Zealand has served to improve the quality of their decision making, especially in crucial issues such as managing resources.

Wilfred Uytengsu

Uytengsu is the president and chief executive officer of dairy-product manufacturer Alaska Milk, which has been a long-time client of New Zealand dairy companies.

He has been active in supporting building stronger ties between the New Zealand and Philippine dairy industries, and has helped both New Zealand government and New Zealand businesses build closer connections with the Philippine dairy industry.

An athlete, Uytengsu – a sponsor of triathlon and ironman in the Philippines – has also contributed in bringing New Zealand athletes to compete in major events in the Philippines.

“(The award) signifies the importance of the economic and trade ties between Philippines and New Zealand,” he tells STARweek.

Uytengsu says the country, being import reliant in terms of dairy products, is expected to further boost its ties with New Zealand in the coming years.

“They know that we have a growing economy, we have a growing population, we have a growing demand for milk and dairy consumption and at the same time we will need to continue to grow our supply base,” he adds.

Philip Yao

Yao is the current chairman of the Philippine-New Zealand Business Council, providing it with energetic leadership and committed support for more than a decade.

As head of the council, Yao has supported high profile NZ Inc. events such as New Zealand Weeks in the Philippines.

He also opens doors to other Filipino businessmen by taking them to New Zealand for tourism and to explore potential investment opportunities.

According to him, New Zealand offers a big, unexplored potential for Filipinos, especially in technology and agriculture.

“I really think that we’re only scratching the surface,” he says. “We can learn from them and adopt some of the good practices in our society, like in agriculture.”

The Future

Over the past 40 years, the relationship of the Philippines and ASEAN has continuously prospered. The cost of trade, for instance, has increased from $133 million in 1975 to $12 billion in 2014.

“Over 10 percent of our exports come to ASEAN countries,” says Joyce. “Beyond this year, we are committed to opening another chapter with ASEAN, lift our engagement and bring together areas of mutual strength and value such as leadership, education, agriculture and trade.”

He notes their government’s desire to continually increase its strategic engagement in ASEAN, in time with the ASEAN integration happening this year.

“We are very supportive of free trade. It increases the vitality and strength of countries,” he says.

He also highlighted the strengthening partnership between the Philippines and New Zealand, which will celebrate 50 years of its diplomatic relations next year.

He noted that one percent of the population of New Zealand is currently composed on Filipino immigrants.

“Filipino immigrants have strong contributions to our society,” says the minister.

“The 21st century is the century of the Asia Pacific region. It is also the century of young countries like the Philippines and we have a huge opportunity together,” he adds.