28 July 2025 at 10:30 am
From the CE: Growth on the go

Kia ora koutou,
This month, the Government announced the International Education Going for Growth Plan – this is an exciting, positive step forward for international education as we chase a big growth target to double the value of New Zealand international education by 2034.
It’s an ambitious target. However, with the strong and steady growth we have seen in international student numbers in 2024, the Growth Plan will help us boost that growth track to make New Zealand the destination of choice for international students.
At its heart, the Growth Plan is about striking the right balance between achieving sustainable growth for the sector, while providing our international students with an excellent experience in New Zealand and enabling our communities to understand the broad benefits that international education brings.
I am pleased with the work that is underway to progress the plan’s implementation. Over July and early August, ENZ is holding a series of market focused, cross-sector sessions to share market plans for 2025-26. The sessions will provide sector representatives with a topline update on market plans, growth targets, the approach for subsectors, and market activity.
I believe these sessions will prove useful in clarifying how ENZ intends to engage with the sector to activate and deliver the plan.
And with the way our latest 2024 enrolment numbers have continued their upward surge, we are on the right track to advance towards our growth goals. Our enrolments are now at 72 percent of pre-pandemic levels seen in 2019, with most sub-sectors contributing to this growth.
We are also seeing interesting trends in these enrolment numbers across subsectors, level of study and source markets and we look forward to sharing these insights with the sector. So make sure you sign up for ENZ’s webinar on 2024 international student enrolments to learn more about emerging trends with students, and how you can use this information in your organisational planning.
Last week, we said farewell to two of ENZ’s long-serving Board members, Linda Sissons and Lyn Provost, who completed their terms, and welcomed new members Sara Brownlie and Prabha Ravi with a mihi whakatau.
Finally, this week, I will be attending The PIE Live Asia Pacific event, where I will be speaking at a ‘New Zealand: Country update and trends’ panel session alongside University of Canterbury Vice-Chancellor Cheryl de la Rey and Deputy Editor of The PIE News UK, Kimberley Martin.
The session will discuss how New Zealand is poised for sustainable growth in international education and will cover the New Zealand International Education Going for Growth Plan and its ambitious target to double the value of international education by 2034.
For those of you attending the event, I look forward to seeing you there.
Waiho i te toipoto, kaua i te toiroa
Let there be closeness, not distance
Ngā mihi nui,
Amanda Malu
Chief Executive