$3.4m scheme to make NZ love its businesses

By KEVIN TAYLOR

The Government is throwing money at changing the attitude of Kiwis to business success in yet another economic development scheme.

Economic Development Minister Jim Anderton yesterday unveiled a $3.4 million Industry New Zealand initiative to celebrate and foster entrepreneurship and business success.

Kiwis needed to learn to celebrate boardroom and market success as much as they celebrated sporting achievement, he said.

The scheme aimed to foster a culture in education where business was seen as a positive contributor to society - and a worthwhile career option for students.

Last month, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report rated New Zealand second only to Mexico in a 29-country entrepreneurship ranking table.

But the report also identified an anti-enterprise culture here as a problem. It said that for entrepreneurs to flourish, a positive environment was needed where enterprise was valued, people were willing to give things a go, failure was accepted as a necessary step to success, change was welcomed and self-reliance encouraged.

But in New Zealand, entrepreneurs faced an environment where business success was clobbered and seen as being at the expense of others, and failure was severely penalised.

The experts also criticised the education system for not providing the knowledge and skills needed for business success.

Mr Anderton said yesterday the Government would start several initiatives to promote and celebrate entrepreneurship, including:

* Contestable funding for enterprising initiatives in schools and communities.

* An innovation event in Christchurch in March.

* A regional innovation expo.

"New Zealanders belief in ourselves and our ability to do things has been undermined by successive governments," Mr Anderton said.

If the country was to perform better economically and as a society, it needed to be more comfortable and enthusiastic about celebrating success instead of dwelling on failure.

The new scheme is the latest in a string of programmes Mr Anderton has been launching over more than a year to foster development.