Shipley out to build education exports
5:00AM Friday Nov 01, 2002

By SIMON HENDERY

One-time schoolteacher Jenny Shipley is back on the education bandwagon.

But rather that returning to the classroom, the former Prime Minister has grand plans to help develop exports of educational services, particularly to China.

Shipley said yesterday she had accepted her first company directorship since retiring from politics in July.

The position is with The Cambridge Group, an executive search and business development consultancy with offices in New Zealand, Australia, the UK, India and Asia.

Shipley's role with the group will include brokering deals to get local educational institutions established in Asia.

"There are New Zealand educational leaders and some institutions who are keen to expand their range of services," she said.

"They're keen to have deal makers [to gain] both access into the Chinese market and the political connections and the ability to facilitate their delivering an educational service there."

China is in a strong growth phase and has a thirst to import Western education, which provides an opportunity for New Zealand.

Shipley, who is 50, said she had built up strong political connections with Chinese leaders while Prime Minister, which she had renewed on a recent visit to the republic.

"Cambridge Consulting is in a position with my involvement and their institutional knowledge to bring these to reality.

"I believe there will be a number of major projects which will be able to be discussed and pointed to within two years."

She and banker husband Burton planned to live in Auckland for at least the next five or six years while she developed her post-parliamentary business career.

The couple moved into a Parnell apartment last month.

New Zealand earns about $1.5 billion a year from educational services and Shipley says she considers Prime Minister Helen Clark's prediction that the sector could grow to $3 billion "quite conservative".

"It's my assessment that over time we could easily grow the sale of NZ educational services offshore to be a very significant part of New Zealand's foreign exchange earning capability and China is most certainly a most significant market.

"China's Government has put great weight on their young people learning English. Demand far exceeds supply at almost every point. They want higher educational governance knowledge and educational management knowledge."

Shipley also has her own private consultancy business and recently formed a business partnership with former minister Wyatt Creech and Sammy Wong, husband of National MP Pansy Wong.

Shipley, Creech and Wong was a niche business focused on helping business migrants identify investment opportunities in New Zealand, she said.

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