New Appointments At NZ Trade and Enterprise

New Appointments At NZ Trade and Enterprise

New Director East Americas appointed

Paul Gestro has been appointed as New Zealand Trade and Enterprise’s Director East Americas and Consul General New York.

Based in New York, Mr Gestro will be responsible for NZTE’s operations and personnel in East America including offices in New York and Washington D.C., while also managing consular services in the region.

“The combination of both roles will mean I will be assisting New Zealand businesses take advantage of the opportunities in East America, promote New Zealand as an attractive business and investment destination and develop relationships important to a free trade agreement between both countries.

“As New York is one of the major financial centres in the world I will be interacting with the finance community to showcase New Zealand companies that are seeking international investment for expansion” he says.

For the past four years Mr Gestro has been based in Singapore as NZTE’s Regional Manager for Investment New Zealand and ICT in South and South East Asia. Previous to that he held senior sales and marketing positions for technology multinational corporations in New Zealand and overseas. He has a background in financial management and business consulting and holds a Bachelor of Business Studies from Massey University and a Postgraduate Diploma in International Strategy and Leadership from Auckland University.
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New Director West Americas appointed

Claire Eeles has been appointed as Director West Americas and Consul General Canada.

Ms Eeles joins NZTE from Restoration Hardware, a NZ$1B San Francisco-based, high-end home furnishings retailer with stores across North America, where she was Senior Vice President/General Manager of Restoration Hardware-Trade. For the past three years Claire has also been an advisor on NZTE’s North American Beachheads programme.

“I have just spent the last two years developing a brand new business in North America, which gives me excellent, hands-on exposure to the challenges of building a new business from scratch in the North American market, as well as strong market knowledge and valuable contacts that can be leveraged for New Zealand companies wanting to do business there.

“Additionally, my work with the Beachheads program has given me a fantastic insight into the workings of NZTE and the potential opportunities and challenges New Zealand companies face in being successful in the North American market.

“In this role I will be focused on working with both our New Zealand and overseas teams to make sure we're focused on leveraging the right capabilities, developing the right relationships and facilitating great business outcomes for NZ companies wanting to grow their businesses beyond New Zealand” she says.

Ms Eeles has over 16 years of hands-on operational leadership and strategy consulting experience across a broad range of industry sectors including building products, retail, forestry, banking, manufacturing, entertainment and telecommunications in New Zealand, Australia, the United States and Canada. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Politics from Victoria University and a Postgraduate Diploma in Business from Massey University.

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New Trade Commissioner in Guangzhou

Pat English has been appointed as the new Trade Commissioner in Guangzhou, China.

Mr English has more than 12 years experience with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, most recently as China Market Manager. He has been heavily involved in the negotiation and implementation of the New Zealand China Free Trade Agreement.

“In this new role I will help to develop New Zealand’s long term sustainable trade with China and assist New Zealand companies to build strong managerial and strategic capability in the Chinese market. I’m looking forward to seeing the free trade agreement implemented in market and utilised by New Zealand and Chinese companies” he says.

Prior to his role as China Market Manager Mr English was Consul Commercial in Beijing and prior to that was Trade Commissioner in Shanghai. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Chinese Studies and a Masters in International Management from the University of Waikato.

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