Regional plan key to economic gain says Invest chief

By Yoke Har Lee

New Zealand needs a regional economic development strategy that dovetails with the nation's development blueprint, says the director of Invest New Zealand, Gary Langford.

While regions understand the multiplier effect that direct investments can yield, there is an obvious lack of an integrated approach to get those investments, he said.

Invest New Zealand is the investment promotion arm of the Trade Development Board, which promotes the country to foreign investors.

Based on his consultation with the regions, Mr Langford said that people were still trying to understand what the Government was aiming for with its regional development strategy.

"Whatever we do, we have to dovetail it to reinforce it with what the Government agencies are doing. It has to be a holistic way - that's the way forward," he said.

Regional economic development agencies around the country were also somewhat fragmented, he said.

"We would like to see fewer but better-funded agencies. We need to have strong regional development agencies; there are something like 40-odd EDAs [economic development agencies]. They range from very capable and strong ones, such as the Canterbury and Wellington regions, to some very small ones."

At an EDA forum there was no agreement as to the way forward, he said. "That's probably not a big surprise."

In the Auckland region, for instance, there are seven local authorities.

"In Brisbane, there is one city council, which looks after the whole area. We should be saying there should be more cooperation. How we actually achieve that is another issue. We are still trying to get that established. There are some ideas out there but it is too early to say if we are going to have any success."

One recent example highlighting these weaknesses was how various EDAs contested Motorola's investment, selling a variety of conflicting messages. Trade NZ brought the authorities under one umbrella, for the first time presenting a unified approach to marketing New Zealand.

The regional disparity in economic wealth also highlighted the need for a more integrated approach to development, said Mr Langford.

He said that tying in the capital needs, education and technical skills needed to promote economic development were challenges that needed to be addressed with a national strategy.