When construction work dried up in the 1989 recession, Fijian Indian civil engineer Vinod Kumar sold the family home he had built and bought his first retail outlet.
He now owns three Mitre 10s, including the country's first Mitre 10 Mega, as well as house framing and kitchen manufacturing businesses.
Kumar says he knew nobody in retail when he took over the small Henderson Mitre 10, and had to pick up contacts as he went along.
"Networking helps everybody. For instance, one of my suppliers became a good friend and he took me to China and showed me the ropes there and since then I have done business there on my own."
As a Gujarati Indian, he keeps close contact with India, and suggests people should consider doing work there. "A lot of people here never thought about it."
His house-framing business is getting busier and he is about to start outsourcing detailing work to Indian draftsmen.
It's these kinds of connections the Office of Ethnic Affairs hopes to facilitate as a result of its first Ethnic Entrepreneurs forum, held in Auckland on Friday.
It is part of a wider programme to help New Zealand businesses take better advantage of the 10 free trade agreements this country has in the Asian region.
The aim is for mainstream Kiwi enterprises to draw on the store of connections and cultural knowledge ethnic businesses have in their home countries.
Office of Ethnic Affairs director Mervin Singham says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade does presentations on the technical aspects of the FTAs, and advises businesses to find a local player and understand the cultural context of doing business in their target market.
But to date, no one has facilitated that.
"So we thought, we'd set up the platform here and be the connector between mainstream and ethnic business interests, and economic development agencies.
"There's a strong drive within the ethnic community to make people see diversity as an advantage for New Zealand."
It is hoped concrete actions will come out of the day, such as a database matching companies with contacts.
The office also hopes for ideas on ways to build tourism from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) markets.
