Growing SMEs and Entrepreneurship in New Zealand

Last week, NZ Asian Leaders and Bank of New Zealand presented a joint session on Growing SMEs and Entrepreneurship in New Zealand. Led by NZAL Chair, Mai Chen, this session put a spotlight on small to medium sized businesses in NZ, the growth opportunities in the market, and how to overcome the challenges and issues facing the sector in the next 12 to 24 months.

The speakers including (L-R) Edwina Mistry, Founder and Director, CreateOps, Mai Chen, Chair, NZ Asian Leaders, Derek Yin, Tastee Pantry NZ Limited, Karna Luke, GM of Enterprise Partnerships & Partners Strategy, Bank of New Zealand and Thai-Anh Cooper, Founder and Managing Director, in2HR,  presented on the real-world business challenges, business confidence among SMEs, issues faced by small businesses and how to successfully navigate these risks to help enhance business growth.

Speaking to an audience of over 60 business owners and corporate leaders, Karna Luke, GM of Enterprise Partnerships & Partners Strategy, Bank of New Zealand spoke about the importance of connections and tapping into an extended ecosystem “to access external experts in a range of areas to help grow and succeed.”

Thai-Anh Cooper, Founder and Managing Director, in2HR emphasied that businesses are made up of people and without people, there would be no business. Derek Yin, Director, Tastee Pantry NZ Limited joined others and shared his views on the current challenges within the SME industry while Edwina Mistry, Founder and Director, CreateOps talked about building relationships, brand and to make sure you always have a support network around you.