Simon Bridges: Auckland Business Chamber CEO on Invest New Zealand getting up and running

Action to attract crucial international investment. 

Invest New Zealand is up and running, a government organisation that'll work with global investors to create jobs, boost innovation, and lift productivity. 

It's been given $85 million over four years to cement itself. 

Auckland Business Chamber CEO Simon Bridges told Mike Hosking that our settings were suboptimal, and we’re now getting better ones. 

He says that they’re not world leading, but they are being made with impeccable timing, as they’re being made as the world’s increasingly turning to custard. 

Bridges says there’s real enthusiasm for this in New Zealand, as new residents investing in businesses and startups will have a real flow on effect on the economy.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The other thing that happens today July one, first official
day of bun You invest in z initiative. This is
the investment Attraction Agency Laura. He got passed by Parliament
last week. Now, Simon Bridges Auklandchamber of Commerce bosses with
us Simon Morning good A, Mike, I can't work out
whether this is a thing that one we should have
already been doing years ago, and two doesn't everyone else
have one anyway? And is it going to make any

(00:21):
difference at all?

Speaker 2 (00:23):
That's yes to all of those things. I mean the
reality of you know, I think your good points is
we had suboptimal settings and now we're getting better settings.
Are they world leading? Not on your life. But I
tell you what we have got with these changes is
impeccable timing. All right, we're changing this stuff as the
world's turning increasingly to custard. You've got North Americans wanting

(00:44):
to exit trump Land. You've got thousands. I mean I
saw one media report thirty thousand, which sounds overblown, but
British millionaire is wanting to leave because of high tex
You've got Chinese, You've poured money into Singapore that still
want to get into an even safer haven. So I think,
I think it's really good timing. I think the other
thing I would say is in New Zealand there is
definitely I mean, I said, in Auckland in the marketplace,

(01:06):
real enthusiasm and excitement about this. Because if you just
say a thousand retinue residents paying somewhere between five and
ten million, let's say seven and a half million each, well,
they have seven and a half billion dollars. So the
flow and effects from that if they're investing in a startup,
and you know, the startup gets a new office and
pay some lawyers and accountants and buy some takeaway coffees,

(01:28):
it has a real effect on the economy.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
How much is this just awareness? In other words, Oh,
I didn't think of New Zealand versus we are genuinely attractive.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
I think, truthfully it's both of those things. I mean,
I do think, you know, this is world according to
Simon and stuff. But I believe for some time our
biggest strategic disadvantage over the last couple of hundred years
has been with the most isolated kind of developed country
in the world. At the moment, though, as I say,
in the world we live in that becomes I think,
quite a strong strategic advantage all the things, you know,

(02:01):
all of law, you know, not bad weather, but nice scenery,
actually decent people, all of that stuff. So I think
it's there. But the settings aren't bad. You know, we
had poor settings for a while there, and you saw
it in the numbers. You know, it was sort of
a billion dollars a year of and WOULD investment and
then it went to sort of fifty million. So there's
just no reason why we can't get up into the

(02:21):
billions again. And I think with this we will that.
The immigration always and advisors are very excited. They're they're
out there getting inquiries every day. I talk every week.
I'm not exaggerating to someone who's setting up a new fund,
a property fund and infrastructure fund or something to try
and take some of this money. So yeah, I think
it's it's a real bright line in our economy.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
Good stuff. I'm nice to catch up Simon Bridges Aukland
Business Chamber of CEO with us this morning.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
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