28 September 01

Business Leader Appointed Chair of Asia 2000 Foundation

Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Phil Goff, announced today the appointment of Sir Dryden Spring as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Asia 2000 Foundation of New Zealand.

Sir Dryden succeeds the Hon Philip Burdon, who retires as Chairman at the end of September.

"Asia is vitally important to all sectors of New Zealand’s economy. Our ability to effectively pursue our interests in Asia depends on bridging the cultural and linguistic differences and on building strong institutional links. Under the leadership of Mr Burdon, the Foundation has made enormous progress towards those goals.

“It has evolved far beyond its original terms of reference to become an independent organisation uniquely positioned to provide not only a source of Asia-related expertise and information, but to facilitate all-important people-to-people links and to contribute to public policy debate on New Zealand-Asia relations.

"I welcome Sir Dryden to the Chair of the Asia 2000 Foundation and the wealth of skills and senior business experience he brings to the position."

Formerly chairman of the New Zealand Dairy Board from 1989 to 1998, Sir Dryden is currently the Chairman of Fletcher Challenge Forests, of Goodman Fielder New Zealand Ltd, Ericsson Communications Ltd (NZ) and WEL Networks Ltd. Sir Dryden also heads the New Zealand APEC Business Advisory Council and was a member of the Eminent Persons Group in 1994 and 1995 which wrote the APEC Vision "Free and Open Trade In Asia Pacific", which subsequently became the “Bogor Goals”. He was honoured with the NZ 1990 Commemoration Medal and became Knight Bachelor in 1994 for services to New Zealand and the dairy industry.

The Minister has also appointed two new trustees to the Board of the Foundation: Simon Edwards, Chief Executive Officer of HSBC in New Zealand and Geoff Ricketts, Chairman of Lion Nathan Ltd. Mr Edwards has worked in senior management and strategic planning positions at HSBC around the world, including in Hong Kong and Taipei. He holds a Master's degree in Oriental Studies from Cambridge University and is a Chinese linguist. Mr Ricketts, a consultant lawyer for Russell McVeagh, is a director of the New Zealand Stock Exchange, The Todd Corporation, Spotless Group, and Royal & SunAlliance Insurance Group among others.

The Asia 2000 Foundation of New Zealand is a non-profit organisation dedicated to building New Zealand's links with Asia in business, culture, education and media. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been responsible for appointing the board members of the Asia 2000 Foundation of New Zealand, since its inception in 1994.

Ends

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