The challenge of attracting and retaining talent from overseas emerged as a key concern for business at the first Budget Summit held at Parliament yesterday.
The summit gave about 100 senior executives from Australia and New Zealand the chance to discuss long-term policies they believed should be givenconsideration in next year's Budget.
Deloitte chairman Nick Main said there were some "rough edges" around tax rules and regulations that made it difficult for New Zealand firms to recruit staff from overseas.
They included tax liability on relocation expenses and investments held overseas.
"They tilt the playing field against us and, given the lower salaries paid here, it would be useful to remove them."
Also discussed was a perceived shortage of capital to grow New Zealand businesses in overseas markets or for investment in the local sharemarket.
New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD) chief executive Peter Neilson said there was "quite a reasonable level of support" at the summit for compulsory superannuation as well as moves to attract high net worth individuals from overseas to address those issues.
The summit also discussed the inadequacy of New Zealand's current infrastructure, the need for long-term regulatory certainty, recognition of the impertinence of sustainable development and a perceived ambivalence to business and growth in some sectors of the community.
The summit was organised by the BCSD and CPA Australia.
Main said most of those who attended were representatives from large New Zealand corporates and state-owned enterprises.
The summit's main findings will be incorporated into the council's formal submission to Finance Minister Michael Cullen in November.
"On the basis of the feedback we received today, businesses saw value in talking to Government about long-term issues and would want the Summit repeated," said Neilson.
