Foreign firms line up to invest in NZ

By SIMON COLLINS and MATHEW DEARNALEY

Fifteen foreign investors are lining up to take advantage of New Zealand's plunging exchange rate by setting up export-oriented businesses likely to create hundreds of jobs.

The inquiries - a record since Trade NZ created an investment unit to woo overseas investors in 1991 - could create between 50 and 700 jobs apiece in the next two to three years.

The revelation comes as the Weekend Herald begins an investigative series on jobs and the economy.

The Jobs Challenge, the result of two months' intensive research, will look here and around the world at what works - how we can generate enough jobs for New Zealanders who want them and a standard of living which keeps those jobs and people here.

The manager of Trade NZ's Invest NZ unit, Gary Langford, told the Weekend Herald that he hoped to announce details of one of the new projects in the next few days - a centre to develop international mobile phone software on the North Shore involving three overseas companies.

Another project, involving export-oriented engineering and believed to be in Nelson, will make use of skilled workers laid off when the local car industry closed in 1998.

Invest NZ's manager of corporate attraction, Guy Tapley, said several of the projects were in Auckland, one in Otago-Southland, and one involved the three main centres and one regional centre.

"We have never had more high-quality investigations under way by international companies in New Zealand, contemplating direct investment."

Mr Tapley said the potential investments were in four areas:

Information and communications technology, including software development centres.

Back-office and customer service centres such as call centres, financial processing and sophisticated help-desks.

"Smart manufacturing," including engineering and marine ventures.

Adding value to primary production, including a North American company looking at using medium-density fibreboard for manufacturing componentry and mouldings.

Mr Langford said two projects were in the biopharmaceutical area, taking advantage of New Zealand science and the country's disease-free status and strong border protection against biological risks.

In the marine sector, the Government believes it will be able to secure land which is being vacated by the Hobsonville air base in West Auckland for a Canadian super-yacht builder, Sovereign Yachts, and several local boat-builders.

Ironically, one of the companies that is actively looking at investing here is American cellphone maker Motorola, which decided recently to build its next software research centre in Australia instead of Christchurch.

The company sent a top-level delegation last month to discuss business opportunities that arose during its inquiries for the software centre, meeting local companies and Research, Science and Technology Minister Pete Hodgson.

Mr Tapley said the Government's "partnership" approach to investors had created "a very welcoming environment - the first thing is that companies want to be loved."

With more than 180,000 Kiwis still out of work and the plunging dollar dramatising our difficulties, the Weekend Herald wants to generate discussion on how we can do better. Feedback from readers is invited.

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