18,000 missing Kiwis found!

17 March 2006

18,000 missing Kiwis found!

In barely a week, Kea New Zealand’s global census Every One Counts (www.everyonecounts.co.nz) has tracked down more than 18,000 kiwis living in 148 countries across the world.

“At peak times, expat Kiwis are completing the survey at a rate of over 100 an hour,” says Ross McConnell, Chief Executive of Kea New Zealand.

Early results show the potential impact of New Zealand’s expatriate community, Mr McConnell says.

“Over 50% of expat Kiwis who’ve filled in the survey say they intend to come home eventually to live. Clearly, their decisions will have significant implications for society and the economy,” says Mr McConnell.

“Equally, Kea is taking on the challenge of building a vibrant, global, pro-New Zealand community among the half of expats who may never come home to live.”

The on-line survey Every One Counts (www.everyonecounts.co.nz) is building wide support among expatriates. “Thanks for organising this,” said a Kiwi in Chicago. “Connecting with the diaspora is vital!” Added a Kiwi living in Sydney: “Well done for creating such a web site and more importantly letting us Kiwis who are away from home know that we should be included, too! All the best, kia kaha, faafetai tele, God bless.”

New Zealanders across the globe are clicking onto the Every One Counts message. “Who knew there were Kiwis living in Cajamarca, Peru; Dushanbe, Tajikistan; Arusha, Tanzania; and Uppsala, Sweden?,” Mr McConnell asks. “The Every One Counts campaign has found them.”

Yet tens of thousands of Kiwis are still to be found by Kea’s global census, Every One Counts. A key component of the campaign is for New Zealanders living at home to contact their friends and family overseas to encourage them to complete the online survey.

“By referring through our website, www.everyonecounts.co.nz, New Zealanders stand to win great prizes from the All Blacks and Emirates Team New Zealand,” Mr McConnell says. He also encourages people to pass on the web link to Kea’s cheeky ‘home movie’ that tells people about Every One Counts: www.everyonecounts.co.nz\movie.html.

The global census is live online until 30 April. Kea plans to release a full report of its findings from the global census in May.

Every One Counts is supported by a range of partners and sponsors from the public and private sectors: HSBC, Emirates Team New Zealand, New Zealand Rugby Union, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Education, Statistics New Zealand, APN News & Media, and Telecom New Zealand.

ENDS

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