Rob Morrison will chair the Invest New Zealand advisory group, made up of five people deeply experienced in global investment. Photo / Warren Buckland
Rob Morrison will chair the Invest New Zealand advisory group, made up of five people deeply experienced in global investment. Photo / Warren Buckland
A high-powered advisory group chaired by Rob Morrison has been appointed to advise on establishing Invest New Zealand.
The group will help frame legislation and offer practical advice to attract international capital and expertise.
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay emphasises enhancing economic growth through strategic partnerships and investment facilitation.
A high-powered advisory group chaired by Rob Morrison has been appointed to advise on the establishment of Invest New Zealand.
Morrison has had a lengthy career in international capital markets and chairs Morrison, a New Zealand-headquartered global investment firm with more than US$25 billion in assets under management.
The othermembers of the reference group are Catherine Savage, Matt Whineray, Justin Murray and Jonty Edgar. They are all deeply experienced in global investment.
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay says having the input of “big picture” private sector experts “has been invaluable” as the Government moves to quickly establish Invest NZ.
“We’re making sure we get it right and it can be as much like the private sector and the way it operates rather than like a government department,” McClay said.
Funding will be allocated in the May 22 Budget and legislation passed this year to set up Invest NZ as an autonomous Crown agency with a clear mandate to attract international capital, ideas, and expertise.
The Morrison-chaired reference group will help frame the legislation, ensuring it is enabling rather than restrictive.
The group will also offer practical advice on what the agency should look like and how it should operate. Their role is to challenge existing thinking, provide perspectives that officials might not have, and help design a system that can effectively match investors with opportunities. They will work alongside New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) to develop a comprehensive approach, with their recommendations informing final decisions on the agency’s structure, strategy, and operational approach.
McClay says NZTE’s entire existing investment team has been offered jobs in the new agency which will allow it to “hit the ground running rather than recruiting from scratch”. He praised the team who he said will bring their existing relationships and knowledge of international investors, which can be quickly leveraged to start attracting investments that benefit New Zealand.
Once Invest NZ is established, it will operate independently with a Cabinet-appointed board and will not engage in direct investment but will facilitate and streamline investment processes.
Trade Minister Todd McClay. Photo / Marty Melville
McClay says the goal is to enhance New Zealand’s economic growth through strategic partnerships and investment. He underlines the Prime Minister’s observation that visiting delegations from Saudi Arabia and the UAE are already exploring investment opportunities.
He notes that, traditionally, foreign direct investment (FDI) in New Zealand has been sourced from the United States, Europe, Australia, Japan, China and Southeast Asia. But recent trade deals like the New Zealand-Gulf Co-operation Council Free Trade Agreement and UAE free trade deal have spotlighted New Zealand.
“There is a lot of interest,” he says. “We had a 37-strong delegation from Saudi Arabia who are looking at food production.”
The delegation was led by Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Abdulrahman A. AlFadley, and was here for the ninth New Zealand-Saudi Arabia Joint Ministerial Commission.
While in Auckland, the delegation of officials and businesspeople visited the Auckland Business Chamber, Vessev (Electric hydrofoil vessel), Westbury Stud Farm, the University of Auckland (Space Institute and satellite testing), Moana Seafood, Fonterra and FoodBowl – NZ Food Innovation Auckland.
“They don’t want to own or run the farm but they are interested in food security and manufacturing,” McClay says, noting that conversations are at an early stage. “If you take the UAE, they have sovereign wealth funds that are investing all over the world,” he says.
“They’re invested in a piece of infrastructure or processing and manufacturing in one part of the world and they want to do more. They’re interested in whether there are opportunities like that in New Zealand.”
McClay says the funds don’t necessarily want to own everything but they want to grow expertise and are seeking local partners.
He acknowledges there are differences culturally. “These are very strict business people that have been doing business in the world for a period of time.
“They’ve had to bring investment into their own economies to grow. You don’t have to to go too far back before Dubai was a desert and look at it now as they have usefully taken petrochemical wealth and grown.”
McClay says the UAE is interested in New Zealand. “We always thought we were too small for their investment. But they said ‘No, not at all’.”
He expected that more sovereign wealth funds from the region will visit New Zealand to engage with Government and seek opportunities.
He stressed the Middle Eastern view on food security had changed. “They don’t want to buy farms. They’ve found that farming sounds easy but it is not.
“Food security comes through safety and the relationships and the ability to buy – and sometimes that is the best."
