Mike Pero

Posted by Carey Winterflood in Nov, 2020

Cook Islands real estate honored in Auckland

REPOST FROM THE COOK ISLANDS NEWS PRESS Tuesday 17 November 2020 | Written by Rashneel Kumar | Published in Local, National

Cook Islands real estate mogul Mike Pero was honoured with a prestigious award at a regional business event in Auckland over the weekend.

Pero, who recently resigned as chief executive of Mike Pero Real Estate after 40 years in business, received the Pacific Legacy Award at the Pacific Business Trust Award on Friday night.

He hopes this award will inspire other Cook Islands business people.

“It means a lot just as I end my working career in real estate and finance – it capped things off nicely,” Pero told Cook Islands News.

“I hope I can provide a path for other Cook Islands business people. It’s a lot to do with confidence and self-belief. I encourage other Cook Islanders to step up and say I can do this!”

Celebrating the achievements of Pacific business and business leaders in Aotearoa, the awards shone a light on impact-led businesses bettering their communities.

In a unique year, Pacific Business Trust acknowledged the hard work and sacrifice of the Pacific business community.

New Zealand’s Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio spoke about the important contribution of the Pacific business community to Aotearoa’s economy and said: “We all have a responsibility in ensuring that we bless our communities; how do we do that? By the decisions that we make and by providing vision and leadership for our communities to follow.”

“The New Zealand Pacific economy contributes $8billion; this is important to note because despite the inequalities, despite the barriers Pacific people face, the Pasifika community still make a significant contribution.”

Businessman Mike Pero is now focusing on his new venture – Jet Raro – a New Zealand-based airline planning to operate scheduled direct passenger flights between Christchurch and Rarotonga.

“We continue to work on an airline for the Cook Islands. Something we can call our own. We expect to announce a start date soon after Christmas,” Pero said.

“Tourism is important to the Cooks and as soon as the borders are open, we need to get the numbers up again so the economy can start a recovery process.

“I’d like to help as there’s been the best part of a year without inbound tourism.”