The mission is planned to coincide with the NZBIO, New Zealandās annual biotechnology conference (September 23 and 24) in Wellington, New Zealand, and UK mission participants are encouraged to register and attend the event. Conference registration is available via the NZBIO website (http://events.nzbio.org.nz/courses/46-nzbio-annual-conference-2015).Ā Ā An early bird rate is generally available to 31 July.
The High Commission is cooperating with the conference organisers and other NZ organizationsĀ to co-host a 120-minuteĀ International OpportunitiesĀ workshop during the conference, where you and other participants may make their own presentations and enter into personal discussions on potential collaborations with New Zealand organisations.
The conference, the sector’s biggest event, brings together about 300 people from all corners of New Zealand and overseas.Ā ItĀ provides a national forum for practitioners and experts to examine and discuss industry developments and technologies.
UK visitors may also wish to visit organisations of interest in New Zealand before or after the meetings, and the High Commission will be pleased to assist in making the necessary contacts and arrangements.Ā This announcement is also going to NZ parties who may know of a UK group they wish to alert to the mission.
Some funding (up to Ā£1500) will be available toĀ UKĀ R&D participants who seek to pursue a commercially-orientatedĀ collaborationĀ with NZ (on a first-come basis for those who qualify).
At this stage, we welcome UKĀ interestĀ in the mission. Please respond to the questions below and e-mailĀ Steve.Thompson@fco.gov.ukĀ if you would like to join the mission.
Questions for UK applicants:
- Name and position of applicant:
- Organisation name and address:
- Nature of organisation’s business and R&D interest:
- Organisations you would like to meet in New Zealand:
- Your ‘pitch’ at a mission workshop: Please give a title or topic:
- Any other comments.
Further Information
You will need to book your own travel and accommodation. Participants will need to follow a Claims procedure. One way to do this, once you have (for example) been approved for funding and bought your air ticket for Ā£1500 or more, will be to claim as soon as purchased, from BIS (Business, Innovation and Skills) in London. Flights count as one of the acceptable pre-payments.
We understand that the Expedia website sometimes offers good deals on flights to NZ.
Try the conference website and the Wotif siteĀ (http://www.wotif.com/Destinations-In-Wellington.d6047981.Hotel-Destinations) for a good overview of hotels. You will also find useful information about New Zealand business and travel atĀ http://www.newzealand.com/uk/.