24 June 2008
New Zealand Trade and Enterpise (NZTE) has appointed five new advisors to its Beachheads programme in New Zealand, North America and Southeast Asia.
The Beachheads programme helps New Zealand companies succeed internationally by providing strategic market development advice. It connects participating companies to an international network of private sector advisors who provide expert advice on the realities of doing business in a specific market and /or in a specific sector.
NZTE’s Director Beachheads Alan Crofts says that the new advisors have been appointed in response to the specific needs of New Zealand companies in the programme.
“Companies participating in the Beachheads programme come from across sectors and industries, and many are looking for specific advice about market growth and development. The new advisors will help to ensure that we are able to provide companies with the advice, contacts and networks that will best help them grow and succeed internationally.”
New Zealand Beachheads Advisory Board
- David Boyd: David is an experienced executive and company director with a background in specialised manufacturing, medical devices, and consumer products. He has particular expertise in international branding and European markets. David is a founding shareholder of Foot Science International, the producers of Formthotics, and a director of a number of New Zealand-based companies. He is based in Canterbury.
- Adriana Tong: Adriana is an investment banker with over 30 years experience in the investment sector including equity, capital market, options and futures. She is currently a director of Asia Pacific Partners Limited and an advisor of various companies in North Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Originally from Singapore, Adriana has been in New Zealand for 40 years, and is a director and advisor of a number of businesses including Asia Pacific Partners Ltd, The Nekta Group, Nekta Nutrition Ltd and Mineral Deposits (NZ) Ltd.
North America Beachheads Advisory Board
- Craig Nevill-Manning: A New Zealander, Craig is an engineering director with Google, based in New York. In 2003, he founded Google’s first remote engineering centre in New York, and he has contributed to significant innovations in Google’s core functionality including 'Froogle' which became Google Product Search, Google Maps, and the launch of Google in Maori. Craig has kept his ties to New Zealand and promotes his homeland through his work at Google including internships for New Zealand graduates; funding for New Zealand-based research projects; sabbaticals and speaking opportunities for visiting New Zealand academics. In 2009 he was awarded a World Class New Zealander for Information and Communications Technology.
- Tom Stephens: Tom is the President of Brand Strategy Consultants (BSC), which he founded in 1994, which works with clients in retail, manufacturing (private label and branded products), food brokerage, television production, advertising, store and package design, executive recruitment and governments. Tom also teaches a number of classes in Private Label Marketing and writes a monthly column “Inside the Box” for PL Magazine, North America’s leading industry publication.
Southeast Asia Beachheads Advisory Board
- James Castle: James is the founder of CastleAsia, a business consultancy specialising in market entry strategies, economic and political analysis and public policy advocacy. In nearly 30 years of work in Southeast Asia, James has advised in the establishment of over 25 foreign investment projects and acted as a consultant to many of the world's largest corporations as well as many of Indonesia's and Southeast Asia's largest business groups. He is currently Senior Advisor to the USAID project ‘Growth, Investment, Agriculture and Trade’.
For more information about the Beachheads programme, including full biographies of all advisors, visit www.nzte.govt.nz/beachheads.
For more information, please contact:
Alan Crofts, NZTE Director Beachheads,
phone +64 9 354 9164 or +64 27 283 3859 (mobile).
Distributed by Jennifer Andrewes, Communications Director, NZTE,
phone +64 4 816 8318 or +64 27 228 0261 (mobile),
email jennifer.andrewes@nzte.govt.nz.
About the Beachheads programme
The Beachheads programme provides New Zealand companies with faster access to better international networks. Based on a unique public/private sector partnership, the programme connects participating companies to an international network of advisors who have ‘been there done that’, can advise on the realities of doing business in their specific market and provide valuable advice and contacts that can connect companies into the right partners and potential customers.
Beachheads advisors are successful private sector executives and a mix of expatriate New Zealanders and local business people. They are committed to sharing their knowledge and experience to help New Zealand businesses succeed internationally.
In addition to access to expert advisors, participants also receive ongoing assistance from NZTE programme managers in each region who provide business development advice and act as a conduit between companies and advisors.
Established in 2002, the Beachheads programme has more than 80 advisors located in China, Europe, India, Middle East, North America, South America, Southeast Asia, and New Zealand. Some Beachheads services are available in Tokyo. Over the past six years, nearly 160 companies, including some of New Zealand’s most successful exporters, have participated in the Beachheads programme.
