KEY POINTS:
When I went to Taiwan last year, I met a few men who called themselves ex-Kiwis.
In Taiwan, they were highly qualified in their fields, and were citizens of both New Zealand and Taiwan. But they told me that when they were in New Zealand, they struggled to find employment. Without a means to earn a living, they had no choice but to return to Taiwan.
Then, I shuddered at the thought of moving back to my country of origin. But a week back in Singapore and looking at the opportunities around me, I am very tempted to do just that.
A far cry from the country in financial crisis that I left for New Zealand, Singapore is now booming. Business opportunities and jobs are plentiful. New developments are happening everywhere - two big casinos, a Universal Studios theme park and even a giant ferris wheel.
Moves to attract more overseas investment dollars have been intensified and the feeling is the economy is set to move rapidly upwards. To help fuel its economic growth, Singapore has set its sights on bringing in skilled migrants and investors - setting a target to grow its population by two million.
This move would pose a challenge to New Zealand in the face of competition for skilled immigrants, Minister for Immigration David Cunliffe said last week.
Singapore, with a population and living standards similar to our own, had announced plans to increase its population to 6.5 million by targeting skilled migrants from countries including New Zealand, he said.
That is the kind of challenge we are up against. But is New Zealand's response to the challenge of overhauling its immigration policy and laws enough to lift it to meet this global challenge to draw the best and brightest to our shores?
Changes to the investor and skilled migrant categories for entering New Zealand still carry the same mark of arrogance. The focus is mainly on what the immigrant can give to New Zealand and not vice versa - a stark contrast to Singapore's drive, where the focus is on what the country has to offer to investors and skilled migrants.
New Zealand and Singapore differ greatly in the way they view immigration and they way they treat their investor and skilled immigrants. For example, Singapore values international work experience. Singapore employers see overseas work experience as an asset. Such experiences count for nothing in New Zealand where most employers continue to view Kiwi experience as the only skill that would make someone employable.
So as employment doors continue to get slammed on skilled immigrants here, many are finding new opportunities elsewhere where they feel valued and able to contribute. In a trip to Jakarta last week, I met a Dutch engineer with New Zealand residency who moved there because he couldn't find employment in his field back in Auckland.
While New Zealand has immigration requirements such as a high level of English to deter immigrants from Asia, Singapore has been eyeing the investment dollars of the newly affluent Chinese, Indians and other Asians.
The Singapore Government has been busy forming alliances with its ethnic communities to help break into new markets and promote ties with their home countries. The Straits Times last week reported how Singapore was working with the Arab Association helping with a push into the Middle East and to help promote the perception the country was Arab-friendly.
In New Zealand, ethnic community groups are often sidelined, and politician involvement is often limited to attending cultural events and delivering speeches. There is no working partnership to push New Zealand abroad.
Looking at the multi-pronged approaches to wooing immigrants and investors made by a country like Singapore has left me wondering if a change of policy alone would be sufficient to make a difference to New Zealand's sorry state of immigration.
If the facts and figures produced in MP Pansy Wong's newsletter are correct, then it is very worrying. Citing various sources, she claimed investor applications fell from 5654 in 2003/04 to just 227 this financial year, and approved skilled investor numbers dropped from over 1000 in 2004/05 to 18 in the year to date.
She said there were also fewer immigrants coming to New Zealand, and the 10,100 gained for the year ending in April was below the annual average recorded between 1990 and 2006.
At a meeting with businessmen in Jakarta, a comment was made that New Zealand was known abroad as a land of extremes - high taxation, high dollar, high property prices and low returns. Other than it being able to offer the lifestyle that would make for a good retirement, none of them said they would put their money in active investments there.
If indeed such perceptions are widespread, then the Government has a lot more to do than just changing policies if it is serious on wanting more immigrants of the skilled and investor kind.
