It has been a busy and productive three months at Te Waka. Thank you to everyone who supported the launch of the Waikato & Bay of Plenty Freight Action Plan. It was a highlight of the quarter and is the first report of its kind to bring together perspectives from the region’s major freight and logistics industry players on the actions needed to support the sector’s growth and progress.
The freight and logistics sector is already one of the key drivers of economic development in our region and we anticipate strong future growth as freight volumes increase and key industry investments come onstream in the coming months and years.
Te Waka is proud to have led the development of this action plan, in partnership with Priority One and a wide range of key industry stakeholders. If you haven’t yet read the plan, I encourage you to download it from our website.
In my last update I reflected on how Te Waka adds value, with leadership in advocacy on key regional issues being a priority for us.
The action plan is a good example of this approach coming to life. With the priority actions identified, our next step will be to work with industry and local and central government partners to progress the meaningful work that will sit behind them.
Our aim is to bring this approach to other work in future. We firmly believe that anything we do in a particular sector must be informed by engagement with industry to connect leaders, identify and prioritise opportunities and issues, and to develop action plans and priorities that are supported by Te Waka but led with deliberate and vital industry participation.
I also wish to thank and warmly farewell our team of business growth advisors, who have moved on from Te Waka now that we are no longer providing the Regional Business Partner service for the Waikato. We greatly appreciate the contributions the departing team members have made in their time with us and wish them all the best in their new endeavours. We also congratulate Soda Inc who is the new Waikato provider for the Regional Business Partner service.
We welcomed our new Chief Executive, Fiona Carrick, to the business on 1 July. Fiona is well placed to take our strategy forward and I know she is looking forward to meeting and connecting with you.
Despite the ongoing challenges in the external environment, there is a lot to be excited about in the second half of the year. The return of Fieldays and the HSBC New Zealand Sevens tournament will be flagship events for our region over the summer. We look forward to supporting both events and continuing to deliver on our strategic pou in the coming months.