KAPITI JUNE ELECTRA BUSINESS BREAKFAST
Lesley Kennedy – Maven International
Doing business in the Middle East
The Middle East provides a great opportunity for Kāpiti Coast businesses especially those involved in food production and processing.
3rd June 2015
But what does a business need to know when considering exporting to the Middle East? Join us to hear from Lesley Kennedy, an expert when it comes to working with this part of the world.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), for example, has a population of 8.4 million, overwhelmingly made up of foreign citizens (88 percent are expatriate workers) and imports about 90 percent of its foodstuffs.
Lesley is the Chief Executive, Director and shareholder of Maven International Ltd. Since embarking on an ambitious growth and diversification strategy in 2010, Lesley has taken Maven’s operating footprint from being a solely New Zealand-based strategy and operations consultancy to its current state whereby Maven has teams working in Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Mexico.
Conceived in 1998 when it was known as AMR, Lesley led a management buyout of the former principals and the subsequent rebrand to Maven eight years ago.
Maven International companies’ expertise includes: management consulting in New Zealand and the Middle East; social economic community development in Mexico and New Zealand; intellectual property exports; and a fledgling venture aggregating, marketing and distributing New Zealand-made products to the United Arab Emirates.
Maven International also partners with New Zealand government agencies following its development of a commercialisation model and successful approach to exporting NZ government intellectual property.
Lesley is driven by ensuring Maven makes a positive impact wherever it’s operating. Her company stands for making a difference in the communities its people work in, being prosperous, having fun, innovating and being different to the norm. She is also utterly pragmatic when it comes to presenting New Zealand’s commercial credentials to the world; the company frequently creates partnerships with others and excels in combining skills, knowledge, and operational expertise from a range of industries to build exciting and successful companies.
Most recently, Maven International has signed an MoU with Sir Neville Jordan’s private equity company, Endeavour Capital, and has established a joint venture trading company with Endeavour to harness the strengths of both companies to export New Zealand from the edge of the world to the rest of the world.
Book your place now to ensure you don’t miss out. (Bookings are essential)
Date: WEDNESDAY 3rd June 2015
Venue: SOUTHWARDS MUSEUM, OTAIHANGA
Time: 7.15 am
Cost: $25
RSVP to: [email protected]
by 2pm, Friday 29th May 2015.
Payment in advance is expected unless you have a prior arrangement.
The Kāpiti Company account 01-0731-0223849-00.
Seats will be limited and your acceptance/reply is a firm booking. Cancellations made after 29th May are non-refundable due to catering requirements. Receipts will only be issued to payments made online. If you require a receipt please let us know at time of booking.
