Anna Charles-Jones
Marlborough Girls' College
Blenheim

I would like to thank you personally for the effort you put in to give us all the opportunity to experience the New Zealand Voices programme. It was an extremely valuable and informative three days that I will never forget.

As the programme drew closer I really didn’t know what to expect, with no one from my school having been before - I hadn’t even taken economics or accounting since a short half-year course in the fourth form. So as you can imagine the programme was a massive learning curve for me as I had little prior knowledge about economics in general, let alone the role of APEC in the world economy.

I have come away not only more knowledgeable, but more interested in the global market, where New Zealand fits into it, and also about other issues that APEC addresses - such as climate change, disaster management and energy security.

The speakers were all very different, and all interesting and inspiring in their own way. I really enjoyed listening to such a wide range of leaders in their chosen fields.
It was particularly special to have the opportunity to attend a function at government house, and to have heard Phil Goff speak at parliament.

I came home buzzing about all the new knowledge I had and the people I met, it's all my family and friends heard about for a while.

I think the programme was incredibly well run. For such a jam-packed 3 days there wasn't one hiccup, and everyone knew exactly what was happening and what was expected of us.

The only suggestion I can think of would be to include information about business attire and the gift in the initial information that went out, as I managed to be away and not get it.

Finally I would like to thank you once again, I was so pleased to be invited to attend again next year, and provided I'm in the country, I look forward to sharing the experience with another group and building on what I have learned this year.