Barney Irvine: Northern Infrastructure Forum Executive Director on foreign investors in infrastructure projects

The Government may only be putting up four projects for public-private partnerships at its Infrastructure Investment Summit later this week.  

It's invited large companies from 14 countries to drive foreign capital into New Zealand. 

Northern Infrastructure Forum Executive Director Barney Irvine told Mike Hosking there's a positive glow around the New Zealand market and investors are liking the signals so far, but we need to retain this interest.  

He says they need to see a pipeline of high-quality funded projects, and if they don't see that, the glow will probably fade. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The government also this week Big International Investment Summer opens Thursday,
rolls out the red cap and the big picture. Basically,
our doors are open and we want your money and
to report out in the lead up to that show's
investors are hungry for opportunities, so investment companies and funds
across Australasia this has took part in this particular study.
Northern Infrastructure Forum Executive Director Barney irvines with us on this. Barney,

(00:22):
very good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
What do you specifically ask.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
We asked primarily about the levels of interest in the
New Zealand news in the market and just to clarify
these there are some New Zealand in Australia based investors
and bunds, but a number of them were also very
much international players. Good.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
So one of the problems though this coming weekend is
I understand it Thursday and Friday, is there's only four
PPPs up from the government's point of view, and one
of which is a road and there's a school and
a prisoner. There are we offering enough up to invest in?

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Look, that is really the big challenge. And so coming
back to what you were saying before, Yes, there is
there is interest in the New Zealand market. This is
sort of a positive glow around the news in the
market and investors really like the signals. But the bottom
line is that they need to see a pipeline of
high quality funded projects and if they don't see that,

(01:22):
that that glow will will very likely fade pretty pretty
pretty steadily. And so yes, we would need to see
more than more than four four projects and we are
going to have to.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
Okay, having said that, then so you've got twofold to
two things. You've got one are they going to spend?
But the other one is we're open for business. What
your report suggests is they know we are open for business.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Is that there absolutely they've got that. They've certainly got
that message. And you know that the efforts at building
building sort of bipartisan support and the focus on that
has been received very well as well.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Good stuff Barney, good insight, Barney Irvine, who's with the
Northern Infrastructure Forum Executive director christ Bishop, who I alluded
to a moment ago, also happens to be a big
player in this big investment conference coming this weekend. And
there are only I can't remember them all. It's not
that many to remember, so it's my fault. But there's
a road, there's a prison. I think there's a school
or some school project, but it's hardly like, oh my god,

(02:25):
look at the stuff we've rolled out. For more from
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