Political and business leaders gather for a much-anticipated industry celebration — highlights from the Annual Gala Dinner and Excellence Awards

Returning after a two-year absence, this formal gala dinner had attracted keen public interest months in advance, with tickets hard to come by. Nearly 1000 prominent New Zealand political and business figures and construction industry leaders gathered to witness the development of New Zealand’s construction industry and the announcement and presentation of the Excellence Awards. Attendance and the breadth of fields covered by the awards were the highest in NZIBES history!

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This much-anticipated industry celebration opened with a welcome address from NZCBIA President Frank Xu.

In his address, Frank noted that our lifestyles are changing rapidly. Urban density, more people choosing to live in townhouses and apartments, the COVID pandemic and technological advances have all begun to shape how we live and will continue to influence our future. These changes will have a profound impact on how we design, develop and build our homes, communities and commercial spaces. Accordingly, the theme for the 2021 NZIBES expo was “Building our future lives together”。

Political leaders including Auckland Mayor Phil Goff and National Party Building and Construction spokesperson Tim van de Molen addressed the dinner. Their speeches demonstrated the government’s support and encouragement for the construction industry and strong recognition of the Chinese community’s contribution to New Zealand society.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said that, according to the latest figures available to him, 19,000 new homes had been completed in the year to the end of July, matching the combined total for 2010, 2011 and 2012. “We should celebrate this achievement. Of course, we also face challenges such as construction labour shortages and excessively high house prices. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone in the Chinese construction industry for their contribution to Auckland’s economic development, and to recognise the leadership of the Chinese Building Industry Association.”

Speaking on behalf of the National Party, Building and Construction spokesperson Tim van de Molen praised the Chinese construction industry while also addressing pressing practical challenges: “We have seen tremendous success in construction in recent years, but we want to see an end to labour and building material shortages, faster inspections and building consent processing by Auckland Council, and the government releasing more land for residential developments, among other things. Thank you to everyone in construction for your hard work and commitment. I visited the expo today and experienced the enthusiasm, collaboration and innovative spirit of Chinese construction professionals.”

Unlike previous years, this dinner gave all the building expo’s Diamond Sponsors an opportunity to introduce their brands, products and services. The 5 sponsors were nationwide building materials supplier PlaceMakers; New Zealand’s largest real estate agency, Barfoot & Thompson; global lift industry leader KONE; Eurotech Design, the New Zealand distributor for world-renowned kitchen appliance brands Sub-Zero and Wolf; and Unicom, an information and communications technology (ICT) provider and a source of pride for the local Chinese community.

Representatives of all five brands expressed their support and admiration for the New Zealand building expo and the Chinese construction industry. PlaceMakers spokesperson Norman Woods said the company remained committed to building strong partnerships with Chinese construction businesses, believing they would play an increasingly important role in New Zealand’s construction and infrastructure development. Barfoot & Thompson Managing Director Peter Thompson praised the hard work of Chinese professionals in New Zealand’s construction industry. Chinese salespeople account for 25% of his company’s real estate sales team, and he saw in them perseverance, a passion for hard work and professionalism. Many brands also sought to promote their products and services through the event. Lynd Jiang, founder of prominent local Chinese business Unicom, outlined his vision of using NZCBIA’s excellent platform to strengthen communication and understanding, learn from one another and work closely with the property and construction investors, distributors and suppliers present to build a better future together. The dinner delivered one highlight after another, accompanied by applause, cheers and laughter.

The awards ceremony was undoubtedly the evening’s most anticipated moment. The organisers presented 11 individual awards, including Development Excellence, Design Excellence, Construction, Project Management, Collaboration and Innovation awards. All winners were selected by respected industry professionals, with the awards intended to encourage and recognise the outstanding achievements of construction colleagues over the past year in specialist fields such as innovation, development, design and construction.

Finally, NZCBIA Chair Hu Hailong thanked the organisers, volunteers and all association personnel who had worked hard, both behind the scenes and in public-facing roles, on the building expo and summit. They had overcome the pandemic and numerous other difficulties to deliver the Chinese construction industry’s largest annual celebration.

Chair Hu Hailong then represented the Chinese Building Industry Association alongside charitable business representatives Bryan Young of Kohler New Zealand and Jeff Ren of Renoarts Bathroom to present scholarships and certificates to Unitec Institute of Technology students who had excelled in construction-related subjects. Through this event, they jointly donated $5000 in scholarships to Massey University and $10000 to Unitec to encourage and attract more young talent into construction. The outstanding achievements of two Unitec students earned the association’s recognition and applause from everyone present.

The dinner drew to a close amid enthusiastic applause and cheers, while the conversations among construction colleagues, government representatives and businesspeople across the industry’s supply chain — building understanding and seeking opportunities to collaborate — were only just beginning…