NZ the loser on high-tech front

By ADAM GIFFORD

New Zealand is hurting itself with its failure to encourage the development of a high-tech manufacturing sector.

That's the view of Richard Filley, director of Arizona State University's Corporate Leaders Programme, who is here this week for a symposium run by Waikato University's management school for the International Corporate Leaders Programme.

"Manufacturing generates wealth," Mr Filley said. "The turnover on a dollar of manufacturing goods, depending what you do, is up to three times." For tourism, the return was times one - the room was either full or it was empty.

He said Phoenix, home to ASU's three campuses, was a centre of the semiconductor manufacturing industry, with Intel employing 10,000 people, Motorola 25,000, and European and Japanese manufacturers building other fabrication plants.

"You get one company come in, an infrastructure starts building up, support companies come in, venture capitalists move in, and it starts to feed on itself.

"New Zealand and Australia have missed out on the technology boom, at least from the manufacturing side of it. People may say it's only a small island, but you can fill up a 747 with chips and you've probably got a billion dollars on it."

If Ireland, Malaysia and Taiwan could do it, New Zealand could. But New Zealand did not fully realise the value of having an educated, high-quality workforce which is much lower cost than the United States.

"All you have to do is get one semiconductor fab down here," Mr Filley said.

He had read about number 8 wire and that inherent ingenuity and cleverness could be put to good use with semiconductors or other aspects of microcomputing.

Mr Filley's corporate leaders programme, run at ASU since 1986, develops leadership potential in fulltime engineering and technology students.

Successful applicants have top grades, a history of leadership or community service, "that glint in their eye" and the acceptance of one of the programme's corporate sponsors. The sponsors provide holiday work, job offers and $US13,000 a term to the programme. That income, $3 million a year, makes CLP self-funding.


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