Business NZ sets out plan of action

Business New Zealand is hoping to corral Government thinking on productivity with a new report, Setting New Zealand Apart.

The business group unveiled the document at the Herald's Mood of the Boardroom survey launch on Tuesday, saying its contents dovetailed with the sentiments of Finance Minister Bill English's speech.

English outlined National's 10-year plan, which focuses on the six key areas of infrastructure, regulatory issues, skills, business assistance, public sector productivity, and tax.

He told the gathering New Zealand had to move from an economy based on consumption and debt to one built on investment and exporting.

Business NZ chief executive Phil O'Reilly said the mantra of Setting New Zealand Apart was productivity.

When National first came to power it faced serious fiscal and political issues and was focused on the Budget.

Now the Budget had passed, and the business group had been talking to Government and officials about how to turn its plans into a reality.

The document's aim was to offer specific suggestions in a planned way.

"Often the debate is characterised by slogans a little bit ... so what we've tried to do is go a step beyond that."

It focused on productivity because economically speaking that was New Zealand's malady.

It perceived that the new Government was probably interested in taking a more aggressive focus on it than the last Government did, O'Reilly said.

English said yesterday that since 2003, New Zealand's tradeables index (goods produced for international markets) had fallen about 5 per cent, while non-tradeables (goods for domestic consumption) grew by 18 per cent.

The Business New Zealand report sets out a 50-point productivity action plan around the framework of the Government's six-part blueprint.

www.businessnz.org.nz