China will have an urban population of 1 billion by 2030. And two-thirds of the Asean urban population will live in five mega cities by 2020. The one thing that came through loud and clear is that volatility is the new norm. Learn to live with it.
New Zealand does have strengths. Easy to do business.
High education participation. High quality of life. High transparency. Low corruption. Geographical location.
But Ross stressed that in looking at New Zealand's place in the world we needed to improve in many areas. We would have to work on our weaknesses.
The primary sector being one. Our over-reliance and dependence on it. I think over recent years the sector has been trying to diversify.
Perhaps not enough. And this makes us vulnerable. Highlighted with the payout by Fonterra falling below $4. Our innovation systems too are weak.
If every company acted like a start-up, innovation would be evident and ongoing.
So it's not so surprising then that 49 per cent of future innovation will come from outside of the industry. And New Zealand doesn't have an international city. I thought Auckland wasn't doing so badly in this regard but it's not an international city.
It needs a plan to grow one. A future international city will provide high-quality jobs and affordable housing. The infrastructure and public transport systems will allow for quick and easy access in, out and across the city. Our education was seen as a weakness too. While we have high education participation we have low education attainment compared to many other countries. If we want to fuel prosperity we need a well-educated, highly-skilled workforce. Otherwise, we will remain a low-income economy. Of course we'll survive, but New Zealand won't thrive. We won't zig, we'll zag. And we won't be creating long-term wealth for the country.
We do have time to work on reducing our areas of weaknesses and developing our strengths. Just as other countries are doing. But our small size could also be a risk. This may result in us being squeezed in the future because we are too small to be relevant.
Ross's presentation was challenging. It had information and facts provided by KPMG professionals from 15 countries. We were left with many issues to consider:
1. A period of unprecedented change.
2. Changing demographics.
3. Digital disruption.
4. Enabling technology/innovation.
5. Economic shift to Asia.
6. Infrastructure investment. 7. The environment.
8. Customer centricity.
9. Organisations of the future. 10. Rise of the individual.
New Zealand beyond 2030 will look different from what it is today. Those who want to create a great place for our children will need to be aware of what's coming. They will need to demonstrate fearless leadership, envision the future, articulate clearly what it will look like and marshal the resources to make it happen. Not a job for the faint hearted.
-Merepeka lives in Rotorua. She writes, speaks and broadcasts to thwart the spread of political correctness.
