Leadership key to Rotorua's future

New Zealand is comparatively well-placed economically and Rotorua has reason to be optimistic about the future.

Speaking to The Daily Post while in the city for the Westpac Rotorua Business Excellence Awards on Friday, Westpac national business banking general manager Ian Blair said challenges were ahead, but there was also cause for increased confidence.

"When you look at New Zealand economically, it's doing well by global standards," he said. "We tend to look just at the bad things and the challenges, but when you look to Europe and the United States and see the challenges they have, we are in pretty good shape."

He said protein, in the form of dairy or meat products, were in demand and the markets New Zealand sold to - such as our two main trading partners Australia and China - would keep growing.

"Australia is looking patchier than New Zealand at the moment, but it will continue to grow."

Despite the November elections, New Zealand had a "stable political environment" and a strong financial system, which counted in its favour.

He had been talking to business groups around the country as part of Westpac's "Grow New Zealand" seminars to find what the barriers were to growth in the small and medium business sectors, identifying four key factors.

Infrastructure

New Zealand needs to continue spending on infrastructure such as roads, ports and airports.

"This is something Rotorua is already well ahead on with its international airport."

Population growth

Regional populations need to grow in size and skills, with the right forms of education available to produce people able to work in local industries.

"One of the challenges for Rotorua is dealing with a static population. With the natural splendour you have in the city, you need to ask why more people don't come to live here."

Regional leadership

This was key to the success of any region and local authorities must have a good understanding of their locality's strategic advantages.

For Rotorua, Blair suggested these advantages should include its central location, natural resources and strong forestry and tourism industries.

"You need the council, the chamber of commerce, the business community and the economic development agency to all point in one direction.

"That is a characteristic of the places that are doing well."

Small-business confidence

With small businesses making up about 96 per cent of New Zealand firms, Blair said it was important that the sector had the confidence to invest in growth.

"When we asked that question, 78 per cent of medium-sized businesses said yes, they were investing. But only 28 per cent of small businesses were."

He said the vital question was, therefore, how to help smaller businesses be more aspirational.

"Availability of capital is not really a problem, so it needs to be about educating small business owners about investing and improving their decision-making."