APEC Ministers' Cocktail Function

Wednesday 10 March 2004

Greetings again to APEC Ministers and the members of their delegations. Fresh greetings to our business leaders, Mayors, councillors and the members of our local academic community.

In the week when our academic institutions get their first ever gradings for quality of research, I would like to quickly point out to them that earlier I made a major play of Christchurch as a peace city. The gateway to the last frontier of Antarctica where development and exploration has been forged on a foundation of peace and mutual respect and help. It is a tradition and assertion I would like to see continued tonight during our welcoming cocktail party.

Earlier on I said that this is a wonderful opportunity to build stronger connections between nations, peoples and ultimately how we relate to this planet. It is a great opportunity to start to pull the worlds of science, policy and business together to better serve the one world we all must share.

I must also take this opportunity to thank the New Zealand Government for having the good sense to select Christchurch as the venue for this event instead of Auckland. We, like the old car rental firm ad are number two to their number one when it comes to hosting conventions and conferences. And yes, like the old ad because we are number two we do try harder.

Like most other apparent overnight success stories it has only taken us a decade or so to get here. We chose some years ago to put significant resources into setting up the infrastructure and venues that would let us provide a quality set of venues in what is a very competitive market. That you are all here tonight is a vivid illustration that this investment has worked.

It has provided us with a shop window if you will to help us showcase some of the amazing products and services on offer in Christchurch, Canterbury and New Zealand. We are a nation of innovators and entrepreneurs.

While we do have a lively and continuing debate about how best to aid research and development, we do get some done. We also get much of this done in our own unique way. We are a city that has drawn what they call gold collar workers for high tech industry from around the world.

We have been able to do this in part because of our great natural environment and our dedication to both preserving and enhancing the best of this.

You can see some of the results of this during this conference at the Innovation and Investment Showcase exhibition of New Zealand leading edge technologies. I urge you to take the time to see this showing of what we are doing here.