The Cook Islands Business Hub Opening

Over the last week Withers Tsang was proud to be part of the opening of the Cook Island Business Hub, an initiative developed by our very own, currently “stranded”, Nick Ashford, with funding and assistance from the Cook Islands Government SMART Initiative, Xero and Vodafone.

 Withers Tsang has been on a continuing journey to leverage technology to provide flexibility for our team and a collaborative environment for our clients. However we never would have expected that this journey would have lead to one of our own partners moving to Rarotonga, and due to COVID, being stranded there for over 9 months.

 It has not been all beaches and cocktails for Nick, or so he tells us. During his time in Rarotonga, Nick has not only overseen our internal and external response to COVID-19, but he also continued to work with his clients, manage part of our New Zealand team and developed a professional pathway for young Cook Islanders to become Accountants in Rarotonga.

 This professional pathway has been an ongoing project that Withers Tsang has contributed toward, one that provides practical experience and access to an Accounting degree via Massey University distance learning for young Cook Islanders. However for Nick this didn’t go far enough, he could see the benefit these aspiring professionals gained through practical experience and knowledge, but they lacked a place where they could translate that knowledge and communicate it to businesses. With this realization came the idea of the Cook Islands Business Hub.

 As the very first recipient of the Cook Islands Government SMART initiative, the professional pathways program ticked many boxes for the Cook Islands Government, especially during a time where economies are trying to diversify and become less reliant on tourism. With this support, along with support from Xero and Vodafone, the Cook Islands Business Hub was launched. With one of the few premises to have access to fiber internet the Business Hub, is an eco-system for Cook Islands' Businesses, aspiring young professionals, and foreign businesses to collaborate and cultivate the future of Cook Islands' professional services in a growing Cloud Business environment.

 To see some highlights of the launch click on the link below;

 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3SLZnxvDuxVjFN7LFDqWEQ?feature=applinks