Education Tauranga's first conference held today marked a new step for a partnership programme that has been working in the back ground since 2013.

Taking place at The Tauranga Club in the Devonport Towers, the conference not only celebrated international education in the Bay of Plenty but also saw Education Tauranga launch its five-year strategy.

'International education is a bit of a silent achiever, working away in the background,” says Education Tauranga regional manager Anne Young. 'But this gives us the direct recognition that I think the industry deserves here. So we are really excited about it.

'Today we have members of Education Tauranga here who are the institutions involved with international students and they have come to hear the associate minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment, Louise Upston.”

In 2016, the export value of educating international students in Tauranga was estimated to be $55 million.

In the three years to 2016, Education Tauranga developed one of the most successful international education regional groups in the country, and increased the economic value of the sector in the region by 35 per cent.

'And now we are looking at how we continue to build the growth of our student numbers and also to ensure that the students have a really positive experience and they get the outcomes they have come here for.”

The willingness of the region to begin stronger collaboration in all international activities has linked international education to local business, skilled migration, export activity and tourism which has given the sector more profile and in turn made it more powerful and productive.

Education Tauranga's member institutions have also embraced the collaborative model of Education Tauranga and taken opportunities to broaden their delivery to international students and explore new markets.

International Education is New Zealand's fourth largest export industry and it is also a major contributor to economic prosperity and growth. Contributing over $4.28 billion to New Zealand and over $50 million to the Tauranga region annually and growing rapidl.

Education Tauranga has a crucial role to play in facilitating these important social, cultural and economic outcomes for the region, says Anne.

On a worldwide scale, demand for international education is growing. The British Council has forecast an additional 3.8 million students globally will study as international students by 2024, and India and China will contribute 35 per cent of this growth.

While the most popular destination countries for international students are likely to remain as the USA, UK and Australia, New Zealand remains a significant player and will increasingly look to its regions as destinations for international students to cater for increased demand and reduce the risk of creating ‘international student silos' in the main centres.

The Western Bay of Plenty International Strategy created in 2016 affirms the region's vision to become more internationalised. It positions the regional economy for growth through strong engagement in priority international markets and supports the region to maximise trade and investment opportunities with priority international economic partners such as China, Korea and India.

Education Tauranga has worked in partnership with Priority One over the past four years to attract, support and retain international students to the region and deepen the trade and cultural links between the Tauranga region and the home countries of international students.

Priority One led the development of the Western Bay of Plenty's collaborative International Strategy which affirms the region's desire to become more internationalised and drives collaboration between key agencies on international activities.

They include: Priority One, Tauranga City Council, Western Bay of Plenty District Council, Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), Education Tauranga, Tourism Bay of Plenty and Export Bay of Plenty.

Priority One is the Western Bay of Plenty region's economic development organisation, established in 2001 by the Tauranga and Western Bay Of Plenty business community in partnership with the subregion's local authorities.

It is the first economic development organisation in New Zealand to be initiated by the business community and run along business principles of action and results.