Peter Kell is the New Zealand Ambassador to the Philippines. He was the Deputy Head of Mission and Consul General at the New Zealand Embassy in Tokyo from February 2015 to April 2019 and Acting Ambassador from April to July 2019. Before that, he served in Wellington for five years in the Human Resources Division and Chief Executive’s Office before undertaking a secondment to the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. His last role in Wellington was as Principal Adviser to the Deputy Secretary of the Americas and Asia Group. He has also served in Honiara, London and twice before in Tokyo. He is a graduate of Kyoto University and Victoria University of Wellington. His interests include trying to speak Filipino, singing, playing guitar, fencing and karate. He is married to Riko a Japanese National, and they have two teenaged sons.

Hernando T. Banal II, Trade Commissioner to the Philippines - New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE). NZTE is the New Zealand government’s national economic development agency.
He completed his Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Mapua Institute of Technology. He also holds a New Zealand Certificate in Engineering in Computer and Electro Technology from Auckland University of Technology.
Hernando is a Licensed Electronics Engineer. He has lived in New Zealand for fourteen years and lived in Hong Kong for five years where he worked as the international sales manager for a global supplier of industrial equipment covering 21 countries in 5 continents.
He is now based in Manila. Prior to his joining NZTE, he was an IT professional, a businessman, and sales consultant covering various industries such as ICT, Engineering Design and Services, and Steel Manufacturing. He has worked in New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, and the Philippines.

Ito has over 30 years experience in the IT Industry covering business and market development, project, change and technology management. She has honed her skills in leadership, organizational and project management with success in both Philippine and multinational/cross-cultural environments. Ito is co-founder of Computer Professionals, Inc. (CPI), a software services and solutions company that serves the Philippine and global market. As one of CPI’s managing founders, she has helped CPI achieve sustainable growth through the highs and lows of the global IT industry, expanding its client base in both local and foreign markets, growing its workforce and establishing itself as one of the country’s more successful and stable fully Filipino owned software companies. CPI also takes pride in having developed a comprehensive insurance ERP system that is the market leader in the Philippines today and has positioned itself as a leading provider to the insurance industry bringing it into the digital future.

Ito has been active with the Philippine Software Association (PSIA), primarily in IT skills development initiatives. In 2011, Ito co-founded SPRING.ph or the Software Products Incubation Group of the PSIA to help grow the start-up ecosystem and encourage and mentor promising start-ups to build successful and sustainable businesses and from these develop some to become global companies.

Throughout her career, Ito has worked in projects with nation-building and industry and education development goals. She worked closely with DTI, DICT and APEC in various endeavors including women in IT. In 2014, CPI was named one of the APEC top 50 Leading Companies for Women.

Ito continues to be active in CPI as the company seeks to fulfill its purpose of “Engineering Success” individually and collectively for its clients and the betterment of the larger community and nation.