Importantly, “admiring the problem”, isn’t a productive use of time. We in the business community need to be aware of the wider environment, but we can’t be governed by macro conditions alone.
It is the actions we can take, and the factors we can influence, that will ultimately help to deliver the critical balance of short-term resilience and longer-term growth to businesses and the economy as a whole.
The business community powers a huge amount of societal prosperity, and we should be encouraging and celebrating that success.
The Deloitte Top 200 gives us an opportunity to celebrate the companies that have shown resilience, agility and foresight, and harnessed innovation, despite significant economic headwinds, to drive our country forward.
New Zealand’s leading businesses play a key role in promoting the balance between risk and ambition. While sensible risk management is important, we can’t let risk become all-pervasive, because embracing ambition and opportunity is fundamental to growth – and core to progressing New Zealand’s productivity and prosperity.
We’re seeing that the global rules-based order, from a geopolitical point of view, is changing. As a small trading nation, we have benefited from this order, and we need to be nimble and adapt to this change. While this is challenging, experience tells us that this is also an opportunity for New Zealand, if we plan, embrace and be ready to quickly pivot for however that change plays out.
We dropped off the global radar because of our border closures during the pandemic and it has taken a long time for us to get back in the fray.
Global connectivity, whether for markets, innovation, ideas, or capital, is fundamental to our positioning. The danger is not that New Zealand is thought of poorly, it is that we are not thought of at all. We have a lot to offer on the global stage and some outstanding businesses to be truly proud of, but we have to be out there telling our story.
As business leaders, it is critical for us to actively participate in driving New Zealand forward. We need to take a long-term view and invest now for the future. Leading the next wave means seeking new opportunities, new markets, and new ways to add value and revitalise our economy.
How can we add value beyond innovation and beyond the traditional?
Last year, I wrote about how embracing new technology was key. Today, AI is no longer coming – it’s here, and there is a need for big business to embrace it at scale. As leaders, we need to build AI fluency and understand the technology’s transformative potential to realise our collective ambitions.
Deloitte’s recent report, The Future of Digital Fibre Infrastructure in New Zealand, revealed our fibre network could add a projected $163 billion in productivity gain to the economy over the next 10 years if we act now in areas such as driving innovation with AI, seizing opportunities to grow exports and regularly reviewing regulatory settings.
The success of private-public partnerships, such as the Ultra-Fast Broadband initiative, demonstrates the benefits of business working more closely with Government, including contributing to legislative review and providing strategic thought leadership.
Increasingly, we are depending on our leading organisations, including our Top 200 business community, to take up the mantle of restoring Aotearoa’s ambition and presence, profile, and connectivity on the global stage.
We can hope with this commitment to the New Zealand economy, and a focus on making bold, strategic choices now to reap longer-term benefits, our Top 200 companies can embrace the opportunities ahead and lead Aotearoa into an uncharted, but exciting future.
