When the Asia New Zealand Foundation was established in 1994, about 3 per cent of New Zealand's population identified themselves as Asian. By the time of the 2013 Census, that had grown to a figure of nearly 12 per cent - a remarkable change in the composition of our society.
The reality of this change is no more apparent than in Auckland, where at the last Census 23 per cent of the population was of Asian descent.
Complementary to these changes in ethnic composition has been the change in New Zealand's place in the world. Our eurocentric reference point in trade has been transformed in the past 20 years. New Zealand has now become part of the Asian sphere of economic - and increasingly strategic - influence.
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