Sarah Kennedy: Real growth will come from backing ourselves to win

Opinion

There's nothing quite like studying with ambitious corporate high-flyers from around the world to appreciate just how well placed New Zealand is commercially and economically.

We're seen almost universally as a good place to do business and good people to do business with.

We're known widely for our problem-solving approach.

Our natural resources and primary industries are renowned for their purity and quality.

And the vibrant, growing Asia-Pacific and Latin America regions, if not in our back yard, are at least in our neighbourhood.

We've weathered the GFC relatively well and we have the infrastructure, skills, networks and resources needed to grow our vital export base. So why do we seem unable to grow our economy to its full potential?

Why do the aspirations of Don Brash's 2025 taskforce seem so unrealistically ambitious?

I believe we don't back ourselves enough. Our marketing and presentation skills aren't sharp enough.

And, above all, our home-grown businesses aren't aware of the infrastructure that exists for them in three key areas of export growth; R&D and innovation, human capital, and networking.

There's real support in New Zealand for businesses wanting to innovate.

The increased support from the Government for R&D and the restructured Foundation for Research Science and Technology's development grant system make it more accessible than ever.

Other private and public sector support initiatives abound, but companies, particularly our SMEs which make up such a large proportion of our businesses, need to be aware of these initiatives and use them to grow.

In terms of human capital our education system, our immigration policy and the pioneering entrepreneurial work of organisations such as the Auckland Business School and the Icehouse business incubation scheme have put us leagues ahead of where we were a decade ago.

And when it comes to helping Kiwi companies develop overseas networks, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise's support is second to none.

Combine this with the influential and enthusiastic networks of New Zealanders abroad, such as the Kiwi Expat Association (KEA), and potential exporters have a powerful and ready-made step up into any export market.

This wide-ranging and enormously effective infrastructure has been tapped into by our larger businesses.

But the vast majority of New Zealand businesses, the lower-profile SMEs, have still to take full advantage.

Yet these are the businesses we need to see grow so they can start generating jobs that will attract even more skilled and successful people to our shores and start growing our economy to the scale we should be aiming for.

Of course there are many Kiwi businesses achieving considerable successes in export markets. But for every Sealegs or New Zealand King Salmon there are dozens of others who, given the right help, could be doing so much better.

It's not an overnight fix and much of the solution is in the hands of business itself. We just need to want to stretch ourselves.

That means expanding beyond a comfortable domestic level of operation. It means taking a few risks. And it means changing our attitude towards failure.

It means backing ourselves more and being more bullish about our businesses and our products.

And that means more of us on planes, seeking out opportunities and learning what it takes to win the business we need to grow our economy.

We've got all the tools we need to move brand New Zealand further into the international arena. We must now get out there and use them.

The 2025 aspirations, maligned as they are, are good goals to aim for.

It'll take tremendous collective effort and a sustained period of strong growth but if Denmark and South Korea can do it, so can we.

* Sarah Kennedy was managing director of Healtheries and is halfway through a 12-month Sloan Fellowship at MIT.