Brett has served as Chief Executive Officer of Comvita Limited since September 2005. Comvita is a publicly listed (NZSX:CVT) natural products and life sciences company headquartered in New Zealand and has offices located in Australia, UK, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan. Brett is a current member of the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Better by Design Advisory Board and an Independent Director of the US-based specialty medical device and pharmaceutical company Derma Sciences Inc.

Brett holds significant international business development experience, including roles in emerging and developed markets. He previously served 15 years of a 20-year career internationally with world-leading food packaging company, Tetra Pak. For five years he served as regional Managing Director of Tetra Pak’s eastern Mediterranean markets. Prior to that Brett worked as Commercial Director for Tetra Pak in Saudi Arabia and has also held other commercial and project management positions in the UK and Europe. He has run his own strategy consulting company and has been an active angel investor supporting start-up companies in New Zealand.

Brett has a Bachelor of Food Technology degree from Massey University and a Masters of Business Administration from IMD in Switzerland.

Sarah developed her personal mantra, 'have fun while you work' way back at high school in Australia. Luckily she shares this philosophy with her sister, Catherine and Trilogy’s team of colleagues and suppliers. Sarah figures if you're not having fun, why do it? Never one to sit idle, Sarah enjoys the fact that she’s constantly travelling the globe collecting new ideas and being inspired by the people she meets along the way. Life away from work is focused on getting away with her husband to their little piece of paradise on Waiheke Island.

Rod Drury is CEO and founder of NZX-listed Xero an online accounting solution for small businesses.

One of New Zealands leading technology entrepreneurs, Rod is a member of the New Zealand Hi-Tech Hall of Fame, NZ Hi-Tech Entrepreneur of the Year in 2006 and 2007, World Class New Zealander for ICT in 2008 and an Honorary Fellow of the NZ Computer Society.

Rod is a Director of the New Zealand Stock Exchange, was a Director of TradeMe when it was sold to Fairfax Media and is a member of Victoria University of Wellington Faculty of Commerce Advisory Board.

Rod recently announced Pacific Fibre, a new international fibre cable project connecting Australia and NZ to the USA with Sam Morgan and Stephen Tindall.

John Allen was appointed as the Ministry’s Chief Executive and Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade in July 2009. He leads the Ministry as the Government’s chief adviser on foreign and trade policy, official development assistance, international law, and diplomatic and consular issues. He is responsible to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Disarmament and Arms Control.

Before taking up his role at the Ministry, John served as the Chief Executive of New Zealand Post for six years. He joined New Zealand Post in 1994 and held a number of senior management roles prior to his appointment as Chief Executive. In his earlier career, John reached the position of partner at law firm Rudd Watts & Stone, and was a visiting lecturer in Law at Victoria University of Wellington. John is co-Chair of the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum and a member of the Territorial Forces Employers Support Council.

Lucy Duncan has twenty six years experience in political, economic, multilateral, legal and development assistance dimensions of New Zealand's foreign policy. She has held significant roles leading projects related to MFAT's organisational development including on human resources, operational planning and evaluation systems and strategic policy capability.

Postings include as Deputy in New Zealand missions in Singapore, Geneva and Vienna and most recently as Ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Wellington assignments include Director of the Organisational Planning and Performance Unit (OPPU), Director of Environment Division, Project Leader for the design of the Performance Management Framework, Project Leader for the establishment of NZAID, Deputy Director of the International Security and Arms Control Division, Acting Head of the Human Rights Unit and policy officer in Legal, South-east Asia and Middle East and Africa Divisions.

Wade Armstrong brings extensive experience to his role as Principal Adviser Trade Policy, with a Ministry career spanning more than three decades. He has had eight overseas postings, including as Ambassador to the WTO (and UN European office) in Geneva; High Commissioner in Ottawa; and Ambassador to the European Union in Brussels.

He is part of the MFAT Trade and Economic team which is responsible for New Zealand’s trade negotiating effort at the World Trade Organisation; for bilateral Free Trade Agreements, including the current Trans Pacific, Korea and India negotiations and others which are in prospect; and for dealing with other market access issues as they arise.

Martin Harvey joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1984, bringing extensive experience to his current role as Director of Europe Division. Mr Harvey has held a number of postings, most recently as New Zealand High Commissioner to Singapore, and previously in Canberra from 1987 to 1990 and in Geneva from 1995 to 1998, where he was New Zealand Deputy Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

During his career, Mr Harvey has worked extensively in the area of trade policy, including Closer Economic Relations (CER) with Australia, the GATT Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, the WTO, EU trade relations and most recently free trade agreement negotiations. Mr Harvey led the concluding round of the New Zealand – GCC FTA negotiations in October 2009.

Mr Harvey has had several spells outside of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade: a one year secondment to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs in 1985; in 1986 with Sir Frank Holmes at Victoria University’s Institute of Policy Studies on a study on the future development of CER; and in 2001, a secondment to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to lead officials’ work on climate change issues, including New Zealand’s ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. He then took up a senior manager role in the New Zealand Climate Change Office of the Ministry for the Environment from 2003 to 2004.

Ken Stevens is Chairman and Managing Director of Glidepath, the company he started 36 years ago and still owns. From 1972 when Ken founded Glidepath he opened offices and facilities in New Zealand, Australia, China, India, UAE, Canada, USA, Mexico, Peru and Chile concentrating on baggage handling equipment and projects.

Ken's expertise was initially in product design and then in Glidepath's market development where he has built strong relationships in a great many North American, Asian and Pacific countries.

His role today is to lead the internationalisation of the company to spearhead the next era of growth, working with the growing team of Glidepath people from many different countries and cultures and network of valued customers, colleagues, friends, partners and agents where the Glidepath brand is well known and respected.

Peter’s career spans more than 20 years in the engineering, manufacturing, and pulp and paper industries, starting with the New Zealand Engineers Union as an educator. He progressed through the management ranks at the union and at Fletcher Challenge Paper before moving to Norske Skog for whom he worked in Tauranga, then at headquarters in Oslo as senior vice president business improvement, and more recently in Sydney.

Peter holds a Master of Arts in Social Sciences from Massey University and has undertaken additional study in law, marketing, management and accounting and finance at universities in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom and Europe. He has held several board roles, notably on the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, was a member of the Industry Training Ministerial Advisory Committee in 2001 and currently is a member the Australia Pulp and Paper Industry Strategy Group.

Andrew Ferrier has been Chief Executive of Fonterra Co-operative Group since 2003, responsible for assets of more than $14 billion and driving performance in the company’s operations which span more than 140 countries around the world.

Andrew has more than 20 years’ experience in senior executive roles, with 15 years as a Chief Executive in operating and holding companies.

He is founding Chairman of Global Dairy Platform, an international organisation whose mission is to provide insight and guidance in the promotion of the healthy consumption of dairy. Andrew also sits on the Growth and Innovation Advisory Board (GIAB) which provides high level, independent strategic advice to the New Zealand Government on growth and innovation issues.

Daivd Mahon has lived in China since 1984 and over this time has built up an experience and understanding of the country, the culture and the market that is unique among private investment managers and which differentiates Mahon China from other foreign-owned investment companies based on the Chinese Mainland. David commentates regularly in the media on the Chinese economy and politics, and publishes a quarterly review, China Watch, that is distributed privately to clients.

As leader of the Mahon China investment team, David is involved in all major aspects of investment transactions, from grassroots deal sourcing through his extensive contacts in China, to liaison with potential foreign exit partners and customers. He has advised a number of industrial companies on their China operations.

Wade Armstrong, Principal Advisor Trade Policy - MFAT

Martin Harvey, Director Europe Division - MFAT

Mark Sinclair, Lead Negotiator – Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement Free Trade Unit - MFAT

Lucy Duncan, Project Leader Organisational Planning and Performance Unit - MFAT

Grahame Morton, Head of China Unit Asia Division - MFAT

Deborah Panckhurst, Head of Trade Unit, Acting Deputy Director Bilateral – Polynesia and Micronesia Pacific Division - MFAT

Dawn Bennett, Senior Policy Officer Australia Division - MFAT

David Blakely - BNZ

Craig Wilson - BNZ

Brian Tuiavii - BNZ

Calvin Smith - K9 Natural

David Ballard - NZ Bloom

Alan Young - BNZ

Iain McLeod - BNZ

Andrew Dean - BNZ

Sir Ken Stephens - Glidepath

Wellingford Wai Shing - Wai Shing Limited