Stephen Jacobi, Executive Director of NZIBF, traveled to San Francisco for APEC Leaders’ week and writes his thoughts on the outcome.
ABAC brings together up to three senior business executives from each of APEC’s 21 member economies. Members represent a range of sectors and small and medium enterprises as well as large business. ABAC members are appointed by APEC heads of government and report directly to them.
Read a message from Rachel Taulelei on behalf of ABAC New Zealand:
Kia ora koutou katoa and welcome to these ABAC pages!
Our job at ABAC is to represent the views of businesses to the APEC Economic Leaders. We do this by engaging widely across the business sector and drawing on these views in the annual report and the in-person dialogue ABAC has with the region’s leaders. We also issue a range of reports and letters to APEC ministers and senior officials that advance your general interests as business owners and leaders in the Asia Pacific region.
New Zealand has consistently invested in ABAC because it gives us a huge opportunity to influence the economic direction of a region that takes over 70 percent of our exports and to find practical ways of rebuilding the Asia Pacific economy.
To do this effectively, we will need the help of business in New Zealand and our colleagues in other APEC economies. We’re keen to hear your views so get in touch and keep an eye on these pages for latest developments.
“Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari, he toa takatini”
“Success is not the work of one, but the work of many”.
Ngā mihi nui
Rachel
Meet New Zealand’s ABAC team
Members
Rachel Taulelei
Rachel Taulelei, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Ngāti Rārua, Ngāti Koata Rachel Taulelei is a prominent business leader and a strong advocate for the Māori economy and sustainability in the food and beverage sector.
Her commitment to kaitiakitanga has been evident throughout her career, as founder of sustainable seafood company Yellow Brick Road in 2006, to her time as CEO of Māori-owned food and beverage company Kono, and now in her current role as co-founder of business design and brand strategy firm, Oho.
She has held a number of governance roles, with a particular expertise in primary industries. She presently chairs Moana New Zealand and the Wellington Regional Stadium Trust, serves as a member on the boards of The Warehouse Group, Sealord, ANZCO Foods Ltd, and acts an advisor to venture capital firm Movac and the New Zealand Story.
Rachel chaired ABAC in 2021 and was reappointed as an ABAC Member until 2025.
Anna Curzon
Anna leads Xero’s global product team, overseeing the design and build of beautiful products and services that small businesses and their advisors need to thrive. Anna passionately advocates diversity in technology and building inclusive environments, where people feel enabled to do the best work of their lives.
Anna has previously served on the New Zealand Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council, and continues to use her 20-plus years of experience in the finance and technology industries to help supercharge the New Zealand economy. In 2017 the global SaaS Report named Anna one of the Top 25 Women Leaders in SaaS.
Anna was appointed as one of the three APEC Business Advisory New Zealand Members in 2021, and co-chaired the Digital Working Group, a role she continues to fulfil in 2022.
Brett O’Riley
Brett O’Riley is the Chief Executive of the Employers and Manufacturers Association, New Zealand’s largest business association. He is also a member of the Board of BusinessNZ. Brett is a graduate of Victoria University of Wellington, with post graduate qualifications from MIT and Singularity University.
Brett returned to New Zealand in 2009 and has spent the last 12 years dedicated to the goal of growing business productivity through innovation. This included roles as founding CEO of what is now NZTech, founding Deputy CE of the Ministry of Science + Innovation, and as CEO of Auckland’s economic growth agency.
Prior to that Brett worked internationally in the telecommunications and IT sectors for 20 years. Brett is one of New Zealand’s APEC Business Advisory Council members, Co-Chair of the Advanced Manufacturing Industry Transformation Plan, chairs the Tamaki Makaurau Business Network, and is involved both locally and nationally in the flood and cyclone recovery work in New Zealand.
He is also a director of World Bowls, Dotterel Technologies, BeVine, and an advisor to TCS, and Brett is actively involved in local sports and community groups including Rotary.
Executive Team
Stephen Jacobi
Alternate Member, ABAC
Stephen Jacobi is managing director of Jacobi Consulting, a consultancy offering strategic advice in international trade, government relations and industry development. Stephen is a former diplomat, ministerial advisor and chief executive. He is a well-known commentator on trade and industry issues. He has been Alternate Member of ABAC since 2009 and in 2021 Stephen served as Executive Director of the Global Secretariat for ABAC.
Stephanie Honey
Lead Staffer New Zealand, ABAC Business Advisory Council
Stephanie Honey is the director of Honey Consulting Ltd, a trade policy and strategy consultancy, and co-founder of Global Trade Insights, which offers executive education in trade policy to governments and private sector clients worldwide. Stephanie is a former diplomat and trade negotiator. She has specialist expertise in digital trade, regional economic integration in the Asia-Pacific, the World Trade Organization, agriculture, trade and gender and SME inclusion in trade.
Glen Candy
Project Manager (Business engagement)
Glen is a communications freelancer with broad experience of working with businesses, government agencies, local government and not-for-profits. He has also spent nearly two decades supporting exporters from diverse sectors.
Glen supported the ABAC New Zealand team during 2021.
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