11 December 2023

On November the 30th, the CAPEs celebrated 25 years of ‘APEC Voices of the Future’ with alumni from the programme, as well as our partners from the APEC Voices Trust NZ and Te Puni Kōkiri. The event was hosted by Her Excellency Dame Cindy Kiro, Governor General of New Zealand, at her residence in Wellington.

APEC Voices of the Future has been running alongside the APEC CEO Summit since 1998 and has enabled more than 100 young New Zealanders to take part in a youth leadership programme with the opportunity to observe the Summit and engage in dialogue with international leaders. It started as a small virtual trade mission for tertiary students and has grown to become a voluntary but well recognised and established part of the annual APEC calendar. The CAPEs got involved in the programme in 2022, taking on the administration of the New Zealand based programme and supporting the delegation overseas.

Thursday’s event was well attended by alumni from various delegations over the years, and stakeholders from organisations such as APEC Business Advisory Council, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade, the Ministry of Education of New Zealand, and Education New Zealand. We were honoured to celebrate with His Excellency, the Ambassador of Peru Jose E. Bustinza, Former NZ Ambassador to the US, Minister of Trade, and Minister Climate Change Hon. Tim Groser, and Former Ambassador to Chile, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia Jacqui Caine.

We thank the team at Government House for hosting such a memorable event! Special thanks also go to our speakers David Ward, Tony Nowell CNZM, and Shay Wright who all truly inspired our alumni and guests.