Connections: New Plymouth

Tessa Versteeg

Current location: Wellington
Telephone: 04 439 8540
Email: tessa.versteeg@mfat.govt.nz

I grew up in New Plymouth, and have strong family connections to the city: my great-grandfather was a Croatian settler in the early 1900s; and my parents and other family still live there.

I attended Spotswood College, before moving to Wellington in 2002 to study a Bachelor of Laws with Honours and a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration with Honours in Economics.

I joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2008. I spent two years in the Economic Division, covering New Zealand’s general trade and economic profile and then New Zealand’s involvement in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. My current role is in the Australia Division, where I work on a variety of trade, innovation and industry issues.

I am a passionate advocate for New Plymouth, and am excited about the opportunity to help the region’s economic and cultural development. Building and maintaining international connections is an important way for New Plymouth businesses to grow, and I am looking forward to supporting these international connections. 

As Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade contact for New Plymouth, I will:

• Be a contact point within MFAT for New Plymouth residents with international interests, whether business, services, arts or other areas;
• Provide relevant information, both to and from the Ministry, on topics that I know to be of interest to my contacts in New Plymouth;
• Maintain an interest in New Plymouth throughout my career and bear in mind its interests while I am posted abroad; and
• Visit New Plymouth at least once every year while I am based onshore, before leaving to go on posting, and during leave to New Zealand while based offshore.