A prod from the Kiwi diaspora

They leave to make money and gain experience - then become part of the diaspora of Kiwis spread from New York to Shanghai, Berlin to Sao Paulo.

Some of them are gone for decades, others just a few years while engaged in every type of business imaginable.

So what do these expatriates think of the country they have left behind?

Plenty, it seems. And the views were as wide and as varied as the habitats that they now find themselves in.

The Herald's questions - via the several-thousand strong KEA expat network (www.kiwiexpat.org.nz) - yielded dozens of responses, many of them detailing New Zealand's strengths and weaknesses.

And if there was a common theme, it was how best to move the country forward, for many expats felt there was a lot of room for improvement.

On the whole, they have found New Zealand generally gets a good run in the global press, being seen as having a progressive economy. Then, of course, there's that reputation as a prime tourist destination and the "clean, green" image.

Jo Reardon, 31, a foreign exchange banker living in New York, thinks the basics are right, especially with a jobless rate around 4 per cent and a Government running a surplus.

"Exports have diversified from the traditional commodities, tourism has boomed and seems much more able to capture foreign dollars, and the country is now sitting at the forefront of the growing technology culture," she said.

Rex Turnbull, the Sydney-based publisher of lifestyle magazine Lino, said the perception was the economy was healthy, with tourism as the number one industry.

"Many of our subscribers are from the US, Europe and Asia," he said. "Their requests for more stories on New Zealand is astonishing. They want articles on Middle-earth, skiing, Maori culture and the like."

All well and good, but there's a nagging feeling that strength is too entwined with world commodity prices, which underpin the health of the country's economic backbone - the rural sector.

A former Carter Holt Harvey chief executive, now vice-president and finance chief for International Paper, Chris Liddell, living in Connecticut, believes the country has a "half-full, half-empty economy".

"There's good underlying growth, but it's too heavily based on consumption," he said. "And there's a general air of complacency about the need to keep driving structural change."

An active participant in the high-minded Knowledge Wave talkfests, Liddell gives credit for the "relatively stable" regulatory environment but says there is "little focus on long-term global competitiveness".

Mark Weenink, a London-based partner in the banking and finance group at law firm McDermott Will & Emery, thinks the economic situation is "contradictory".

"From a leading OECD country, New Zealand is now somewhat lower on the scale than its present rate of consumption would indicate."

Expats were quick to give credit where it was due, however, such as the progressive stance on trade, economic deregulation, limited corruption and innovation.

Jessica Macpherson, the Australian national sales manager for Oyster Bay wines, said: "I think New Zealand companies are much better run than Australian ones in many ways, especially from what I have seen in the [liquor] industry."

Several Asia-based Kiwis saw the free-trade deal with China as hugely progressive.

Alan Eriwata, the vice-president of Beijing-based AustChina Technology, thought the most impressive thing of late had been recognising China as a free market economy, and being the first to do so.

"I work with the Chinese Government primarily and it is extremely impressed as it is seen as political as well as economic support," he said.

Blair Nelson, who is an MBA student at Michigan University, is heartened by the return of experienced businesspeople to the country.

"There's a world of difference to what [head of the stock exchange] Mark Weldon and [National MP] John Key are able to contribute after years of experience than someone with a two-year OE working in a pub in London."

But it's the economic flaws that many dwell on.

"It pains me to see us still below the US, Australia and even the poorer parts of Europe in terms of GDP per capita," Nelson said.

Sam Tobin, who is developing technology for NASA and the European Space Agency at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, England, is concerned the economy is "still based on low-tech commodities with the occasional mid- or hi-tech earners".

"There's too much focus on the US. The European Union and, particularly, China will become much more important soon," he said.

Taxation was another hot issue, with most expats thinking it was too high and a disincentive to investment.

Steve Shirley, a field service engineer for General Electric based in the Netherlands, said: "We need to offer better tax relief for international companies. We need to open our minds past local shores to get on the world platform - look at the Irish business model."

Weenink thinks likewise. "The lack of tax [breaks] and other incentives to entrepreneurship means [its] adaptability is blunted," he said.

Not all advocate lower taxes. Steve Jenkins, who is helping run a furniture joint-venture company in Vietnam, said: "Don't worry about giving any tax breaks - spend more on hospitals, health and education. I believe our hospitals and health services are falling way behind those of other countries."

Liam Palmer, a financial adviser based in the UK, believes the country should do more to tap the European talent pool and make emigrating simpler for qualified people.

"By all means have a high points score for entry, but once that hurdle is cleared, the support and processes to enable the new migrant and their family to move need to be much more customer-orientated."

Nelson advocates a different approach to superannuation.

"The Cullen fund? Almost every other developed country has [given] some decision-making on retirement savings to the individual through personalised plans of some form. Yet we still have a central government solution."

Macpherson, on the other hand, would like to see more focus on business development.

"So much more could be done to promote New Zealand as a great place to do business in the way that [Australian] states pursue and support industries," she said.

Expats who return home on occasion lament the state of basic infrastructure that is so critical for business development.

Anthony McNaughten, a London-based director of Strategic Capital Services, said: "Despite a significant growth in population during the past 15 years, there appears to have been less infrastructure development than there should have been.

"A prime example is the second upper-harbour crossing [in Auckland] which is only now under way."

Jonathan Commons, who is a pharmaceuticals marketer in the US, is "concerned that we do not have a free trade agreement with the US and that local businesses will have to move to Australia to capitalise on access to [American] capital and free trade".

Julian Good, regional manager for North and Latin America for Illinois-based Davey Pumps, said New Zealand was "slowly strangling itself because of a mounting social welfare burden and a lack of taxpayers to sustain a first world standard of living".

"It needs to invest more resources in getting a higher skilled population in order to build a growing economy through growth in biotechnology, technology and service industries," he said.

Economic barriers to growth as far as Weenink is concerned include a lack of incentives for start-up companies, an under-developed education system, a low level of R&D in IT and engineering and lack of infrastructure investment.

"The historically low re-investment of corporate profits in capital expenditure rather than dividend distribution indicates productivity has come about through consolidation and cost-cutting rather than increased technology or efficiency," he said.

Most expats think New Zealand should cherry pick some of the better ideas from other successful economies to make positive changes.

It is perhaps best summed up by Nelson, who said: "Our problems are not those of ability but of vision."

The view from abroad

Many expats fear the platform for longer-term economic growth is shaky.

They feel not enough is being done to encourage investment and the growth of businesses through tax breaks, incentives and R&D funding.

They also think the country needs to diversify away more from its agricultural base.

And as for the education and health systems as well as infrastructure - they're in need of an overhaul.