COMPERE: On 30 September, New Zealand's fastest growing exporters, and leaders in international business, gathered at SKYCITY in Auckland to hear who'd been judged the winners in the inaugural New Zealand International Business Awards. The record breaking 90 entrants were whittled down to 17 finalists who had to take a close look at their operations as part of the process.
CLARE HOWDEN: The awards process was fairly arduous, we have to admit, but during that process we found a lot of different things that we could do better. We assessed a lot of different areas of our business that, probably without the awards, probably would be a slightly longer process.
SHANE LAMONT: At times it was a bit of hard work. But it really makes you look inside, and then really assess what you're doing. Often, you can be seeing success and just assume you're doing things well. So it's a chance just to review and make sure things are as they should be.
CLARE HOWDEN: Each question and each section made us focus on different areas of the business, so on the overall picture of it, we got a very – well, a much better understanding of what our business was about, and how we can improve it.
COMPERE: The importance of growing the number and scale of New Zealand businesses operating internationally was underlined throughout the evening.
GERRY BROWNLEE: New Zealand is a country that needs its exporters to do well. We need all of you – and many many more – to be making the choices, taking the risks, making the investments, and getting the sales that give us a good result as a nation.
TIM GROSER: The complexity of the supply chain the future holds for us is massive. So we really need to harness your creativity, and the creativity of the people that work in your companies, and we really need to see this as a great national project.
COMPERE: Winners included services consultancy BECA, and premium food companies Pitango and Emerald Foods who shared their thoughts on what makes a successful international business.
SHANE LAMONT: Businesses wanting to operate internationally, there's all the obvious ones, like think through your currency position, visit your markets, et cetera, but sort of part of our recipe for success has really been building relationships, so we don't rush in to worrying just about selling the first widget straight away, it's building a relationship, and really building that trust and rapport, but cover your foreign exchange, too.
KEITH REYNOLDS: It's all too easy to be seduced into various international countries. So to be prudent, to recognise that in moving into such a country, then you've got to understand the country. You've got to understand the government. You've got to be able to develop good partnerships within the country, and to take things steady, and build up. So prudence, mixed with appetite, I think.
PAUL WHITE: Our international journey is 40 years young. We have many lofty goals still out there ahead of us. But it's been very rewarding and reassuring tonight to come to this forum and to sense the talent – very different, our businesses – but the drive and motivation to grow our relevance in a sustainable way on the international platform.
KEITH REYNOLDS: We're as proud as punch, and it's been a really great evening so far.
SHANE LAMONT: I'd recommend anyone to give it a go. Have the confidence to have others come and have a look, have their input – there's a lot of advice out there that's worth hearing.
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