Growth is not a dirty word say export leaders

By Mark Reynolds


The wider community needs to support Government policies that will promote growth in the manufacturing industry, a conference on New Zealand exporting concluded yesterday.

"Growth has no passionate advocates. In the wider community it is a dirty word," said Kerry McDonald, managing director of Comalco New Zealand and a member of the Prime Minister's Enterprise Council.

That view had to change, and both the public and politicians needed to recognise the merits of supporting expansion in the manufacturing sector, such as the social benefits through job creation, Mr McDonald said.

But that did not mean the Government should return to old-style corporate welfare policies such as blanket subsidies and incentives.

"What we need is a competitive policy framework," Mr McDonald said.

Such a framework would mean putting New Zealand industry on a level footing with the rest of the world, rather than the current situation where many of our trade and commercial policies are less favourable than those available in the countries our exporters compete with.

Andrew Reding, managing director of Fletcher Wood Panels, echoed many speakers at the conference when he outlined a series of policy changes the Government should consider to boost the performance of the export sector. These included improving education spending so that industry has access to a well educated workforce, minimising the tax burden, reducing the cost of compliance with Government rules and standards, bringing New Zealand tariffs into line with those imposed in other countries, and rewarding industries which invest in areas like research and development.

"The Government's job is to make it easier for us to do our job," Mr Reding said.

Jim Donovan, managing director of mobile antenna manufacturer Deltec, said industry had to work with Government and the community to formulate these sorts of policies.

Mr Donovan said companies, industry groups, training and research institutions and Government all needed to come together to develop export and manufacturing growth policies.

"Unless we as an industry...can actually speak with a coherent voice the message Government and the community will hear will be fragmented and dismissed as coming from all sorts of vested interests," Mr Donovan said.

The Government appeared willing to listen to ideas about strategies that would promote growth, and it was up to the business community to present it with options that could benefits all sectors of the community, he said.

Angus Tait, founder of export success story Tait Electronics, said the manufacturing sector needed someone at a political level to support its cause.

"The moot cause of failure (in manufacturing) is that in the Beehive we have not had true believers in industry and the role it could have in our economy," Mr Tait said.