In Auckland this week the Prime Minister and I, together with more than a dozen other Government ministers, will host over 100 high-profile investors, business leaders and construction companies – collectively managing funds and assets worth around $6 trillion – from around the world at the NZInfrastructure Investment Summit.
As a Government we are unashamed about going for growth. It’s economic growth that will create jobs and raise our standard of living. In short, economic growth means a better future for all of us.
International investment will help grow our economy, address our big infrastructure deficit and create more opportunities for Kiwis.
The NZ Infrastructure Investment Summit is about saying to the world that we are ready to do business, ready for investment - and ready for jobs and growth.
We’re reforming overseas investment and immigration rules to make it easier to invest. This year we’ll create Invest NZ, a new dedicated agency to attract investment, working alongside the National Infrastructure Funding and Financing Limited.
Kiwis have every right to be proud that senior executives from some of the world’s biggest investment and infrastructure companies have chosen to fly – at their own expense, in case you were wondering – all the way down to our beautiful corner of the world to learn about the opportunities New Zealand has to offer.
The companies include superannuation and pension funds from Canada and Australia and the sovereign wealth funds for Malaysia, South Korea and the state of Queensland. We also have representatives from major banks in Australia, Spain, China, the US, Japan, South Korea, France and Canada.
Their decision to come here demonstrates that New Zealand is held in high regard as a trusted nation and an economy that is worth investing in.
And, of course, we will have representatives of our own investment community, including ACC, the NZ Super Fund, and a number of iwi investment entities.
Government ministers will be laying out our Government’s ambitious plan to fix New Zealand’s massive infrastructure deficit and we’ll showcase some upcoming investment opportunities for these companies that will improve the lives of Kiwis.
We will be showcasing the pipeline of work we have planned for transport, health, education, courts and Corrections and in the resources sector. Iwi representatives will highlight the strength of the Māori economy and their own upcoming opportunities for these investors.
We will proudly show off four growth sectors for our New Zealand business community – aquaculture, advanced transportation including space, renewable energy and clean technology.
In short, we’ll show them an exciting future full of opportunities for their capital and expertise to partner with Kiwis to build a better future for everyone.
Here’s why it matters for you: by attracting investment, we will grow our economy, create opportunities for New Zealanders and raise the standard of living across the country.
And that matters because, quite frankly, over the past few decades New Zealand has slipped on every measure that matters.
Compared to the countries we like to compare ourselves to, we’ve fallen behind on global competitiveness, labour productivity, capital intensity, real incomes, student achievement, infrastructure sufficiency and housing affordability.
When New Zealand falls behind, people feel it in their pay packet, their household bills, their rent or mortgage payments and in the amount of time they waste in traffic.
We are determined to turn this situation around - and infrastructure is a big part of our plan to grow New Zealand’s economy and ease the cost of living.
'Many NZ infrastructure projects have been delivered using private investment, such as the new Puhoi to Warkworth motorway.'
Right now, New Zealand ranks in the bottom 10% of high-income countries for the quality and efficiency of our infrastructure investments. In plain English, that means we don’t get the best value for the taxpayer money we invest into infrastructure.
So we need to start saying “yes” to other ways of building and maintaining the infrastructure New Zealanders need and deserve.
One of those ways – used by many of the countries we like to compare ourselves to – is to make better use of private investment into infrastructure.
Private investment into public infrastructure isn’t new or revolutionary. Many New Zealand infrastructure projects have been delivered using private investment, such as Waikeria Prison, the new Puhoi to Warkworth motorway, and Avonside Girls’ and Shirley Boys’ high schools in Christchurch, to name just a few.
New Zealand’s doors have been closed to private investment for the past few years and to a large extent we’ve fallen off the map for the types of companies who invest in this sort of infrastructure. That’s why this week’s investment summit is so important and why the calibre of the people flying in for the summit is so exciting.
We’ll leave them in no doubt: New Zealand is open for business and it’s a country worth investing in.
And you should be left in no doubt either: this Government is laser-focused on growing New Zealand’s economy and creating more opportunities for Kiwis to get ahead.
