NZ ranked 16th in survey of 'most globalised' countries

By PETER GRIFFIN IT writer

High use of telecoms and internet technology has helped New Zealand to 16th place in a ranking of most globalised nations, says new research.

This year's study again found that small can be beautiful when it comes to making an impact on the global stage, with Ireland taking top spot for the second time in globalisation rankings prepared by management consultancy A.T. Kearney and US magazine Foreign Policy.

Switzerland, Sweden and Singapore filled the next top spots.

A sub-index concentrating on use of technology put New Zealand in eighth place out of a sample of 62 countries using data to the end of 2001. Australia (21st overall) claimed third place behind the US, which took the top spot as the biggest technology user.

Technology factors taken into account included the number of internet users in the country, the number of internet hosts and the number of secure web servers - all as a percentage of population.

New Zealand had the 19th highest level of internet usage.

The research also ranked New Zealand eighth in terms of international telephone traffic generated - a statistic that should have Telecom and TelstraClear executives rubbing their hands in glee.

Worldwide, the International Telecommunication Union estimates that international telephone traffic grew more than 9 per cent in 2001, reaching 120 billion minutes.

While the past year had seen declines in foreign direct investment, trade, and passenger arrivals and departures the world over because of terrorist threats, other aspects of global integration "sustained their momentum".

"Levels of political integration shot up, spurred in part by co-operation in the war on terrorism and the continuing integration of Russia and China into the international system," Foreign Policy observed.

While New Zealand rose from 19th place overall in the last set of statistics, less impressive progress in the areas of finance, politics, trade and investment explained the overall lower ranking.

New Zealand languished at 46th place in rankings for political engagement which measure the number of overseas embassies a country maintains, its membership in international organisations and its participation in UN Security Council missions.

A.T. Kearney claims the most global countries are also the most environmentally friendly, have the highest manufacturing wages and contribute a higher share to international trade due to their hosting of multinational companies.

Researchers noted that "most global economies tend to be small nations for which openness allows access to goods, services and capital not readily available at home".

But A.T. Kearney and Foreign Policy acknowledged that the same forces of globalisation that had injected capital into New Zealand were now helping to "facilitate its exit" through the liquidation of investment portfolios by overseas companies.

Foreign Policy