22/07/14 - Boost for horticulture and viticulture industry

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Social Development Minister Paula Bennett and Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse have announced plans for a new programme aimed at getting more Kiwis into seasonal work, alongside an increase to the annual RSE cap.

Mr Woodhouse says the need to raise the cap on Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) workers from 8000 to 9000 demonstrates the success of the RSE scheme.

“There’s no doubt that the growth in the horticulture and viticulture industry in the past few years would not have been possible without RSE, which has been widely praised locally and internationally,” says Mr Woodhouse.

“It has provided employers with a stable and reliable workforce and given them confidence to expand and invest in their business. RSE workers have also benefitted significantly from gaining invaluable work experience and being able to send money back to their communities at home.’’

Mrs Bennett says as the viticulture and horticulture sectors grow, the Government is committed to ensuring that New Zealanders remain at the front of the job queue.

“That’s why, alongside the increase in the RSE cap, Cabinet has agreed to introduce a New Zealand Seasonal Worker Programme to provide more pastoral care and other support to assist Kiwis into work.

“While planning is in the early stages, the Programme will be developed in close consultation with industry and growers and I have been encouraged by their positive response and commitment to the proposal.’’

The horticulture and viticulture industry is forecasting employment growth of over 3000 jobs in the next financial year.

“The Government will continue to work with growers to ensure more Kiwis have access to seasonal work opportunities, while continuing its support for the RSE scheme,’’ says Mrs Bennett.

(Source Beehive, Paula Bennett, Michael Woodhouse)

18/07/14 - Chinese Investments

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Far quicker than anticipated, China is becoming a major net international investor just as overall foreign investment into New Zealand has seen a sizable drop. Siah Hwee Ang investigates*

The latest United Nations report on global investment trends suggest that China is likely to become a net investor (more foreign direct investment flowing out of China than into China) in 2014.

I believe many of us have seen this coming, but probably did not guess it would happen this soon.

Chinese organizations have certainly been expanding abroad at an amazingly quick pace.

Back in 2007, China’s investment outflows stood at US$22.5 billion, about a quarter of its inflow of US$83.5 billion.

By 2013, its inflow has grown by about 40% to US$123.9 billion. Chinese investment outflows, on the other hand, has grown to US$101 billion, 4.5 times that in 2007.

Based on the rate of growth, the latest World Investment Report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) suggests Chinese investment outflows will surpass inflows this year.

Chinese investment portfolio abroad is a relatively diversified one.

The first wave of such movements were largely focused on natural resources and commodities, which covers a lot of ground in places like Africa, South America and Australia.

We also start to see more investments in the U.S. as part of a way to diversify away the risk of holding too many U.S. bonds and securities.

Recent adventures include the purchase of shipping ports in Greece and Sri Lanka that facilitate trade. At the same time, we also see increases in deals in agriculture, food, automobile, entertainment and services, real estate, technology, and other sectors that relate to consumers.

Chinese organizations are also growing in size.

In “Forbes 2000” listing of the largest publicly listed companies in the world, organizations from China have increased their share from 0.8 percent in 2004 to 8.5 percent in 2013 in terms of revenue.

In the same period, construction companies have increased share from 0 percent to 31.2 percent, financial services from 0.6 percent to 12.7 percent, and primary products from 2.6 percent to 11.5 percent.

While China is picking up more high-end manufacturing and services with high added value investment inflows,

Chinese organizations are making adjustments to its foreign strategy by not only engaging in exporting, but also foreign direct investments.

It is China’s intention not to over-rely on exports alone.

Foreign direct investment provides an important platform for industrial upgrading and economic growth.

In 2013, the Chinese government has further facilitated this movement by relaxing its regulatory oversight for overseas investment of less than US$1 billion.

Lessons for New Zealand’s strategy

From a New Zealand perspective, the China strategy is one that we should keep in mind. The New Zealand government has put forth an ambitious exporting strategy in the next five years that will further push our strategy towards one of an exporting nation.

While we have yet to reach a stage that we are over relying on exporting yet, there is a sense that the exporting of our merchandises alone will not service our growth intentions.

Of course we should always grow our export services to cover this gap.

More of an issue however, is that our foreign direct investment inflows and outflows have been dipping.

Foreign direct investment into New Zealand has dropped from US$4.1 billion in 2011 to US$2.20 billion in 2012 to US$987 million in 2013. That is a sizable drop.

New Zealand foreign direct investment outflows have also gone from US$2.5 billion in 2011 to US$691 million in 2013. Maybe The New Zealand Initiative’s concerns of over-regulating investments is warranted. But clearly, we should not aim for more exporting and yet at the same time lose our attention on foreign direct investments, both inflows and outflows.

Of course there are always concerns when Chinese organizations go abroad, such as the forays of Huawei and ZTE into the U.S. being labelled as national security risks and the purchase of the world’s largest pork producer Smithfield Foods by Shuanghui International as food supply and safety concerns.

Many of these concerns were found to be unwarranted.

Last month, one of the world’s largest sugar refiners from China has also been paved the way from New Zealand regulators for the purchase of a Marlborough vineyard.

Making sense of foreign direct investments as merely a case of making money for the foreign parties will ensure that we are not always too uptight when a foreign company seeks foreign direct investment here in New Zealand.

Foreign direct investment has more often than not been found to benefit a host country.

Having more ventures abroad is also needed to complete this picture.

Exporting is the most transactional mode of foreign strategy, which comes with the most limited learning about a foreign country and its consumers. So our knowledge of markets out there does not increase in line with more exporting sales - clearly not a good strategy over time.

Likewise, foreign markets and organisations do not have the luxury to know New Zealand better by our organisations being located there.

Being out there with New Zealand foreign direct investments abroad will certainly address many of these potentials.

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Professor Siah Hwee Ang holds the BNZ Chair in Business in Asia at Victoria University. He will be writing a regular column here focused on understanding the challenges and opportunities for New Zealand in our trade with China.

(Written by Professor Siah Hwee Ang and published on July 7, 2014 at www.interest.co.nz)

17/07/14 - Folded Freedom?

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FOLDED FREEDOM: A fold-up kayak? The Oru Kayak folds up into a box for easy carrying. The 3.7 metre kayak weighs 12 Kg and folds in a few minutes into a box less than a metre square. The skin is a double-layered polypropylene rated for 20,000 fold cycles, while the fold pattern allows the skin to act as a monolithic structural unit, without the need for an internal frame. A rigid floorboard reinforces the cockpit and doubles as the lid of the box. Once you're finished with the kayak it can be fully recycled. Fitting the kayak in the boot of the car would have to be a bonus.

FAST AND CURIOUS: Would you rather walk through a Qylatron Entry Experience Solution or an airport security scanner? The Qylatron was used recently in Brazil for World Cup match crowd screening. Rather than screening bags on a conveyor belt, the machine has 5 pods.

Hold a ticket up to a pod and it opens for your bags. Then you walk through a scanning gate to the other side of the pod where your bags are ready to be collected when you hold the ticket to the pod again. Because the machine can screen 5 people and their bags at once it's quicker than airport scanners. It's also more secure as bags aren't just left on a conveyor for anyone to pick up. The pod door turns red and calls a security guard if the scanner detects any suspicious objects. Speeding up such security scans would be welcomed by all.

FAST AND POROUS: Flash memory technology has allowed us to store a lot of data in a small package: just think of the memory card you use in a digital camera. Resistive random-access memory packs even more into an even smaller space — maybe a terabyte of data on a device the size of a postage stamp. That's more than 50 times the data density of current flash memory. Now a team at Rice University have found that using porous silicon oxide material can improve the RRAM in many ways, including ease of manufacture and increased endurance. What's a postage stamp again?

JUMP START: When water droplets spontaneously jump away from superhydrophobic surfaces during condensation, they can gain electric charge in the process. Researchers did some testing with interleaved flat metal plates, some with a hydrophilic surface, connected through an external circuit. Jumping droplets carried charge from one plate to the other as water condensed from the atmosphere and the charge difference was harnessed to provide power. The amount of power generated isn't huge but a device like this could be invaluable to people in remote spots with few other options. A device that both creates fresh water and generates power could be very handy for some.

ODD BALL: Carbon buckyballs are made of 60 carbon atoms arranged in pentagons and hexagons to form a sphere. After they were discovered in 1985 carbon nanotubes and graphene were also discovered. Now researchers at Brown University have created a similar sphere with boron, using 40 atoms. The borospherene they've developed consists of 48 triangles, 4 seven-sided rings and 2 six-membered rings. Several atoms stick out a bit from the others, making the surface of borospherene somewhat less smooth than a buckyball. They don't yet know what it might be useful for, but one idea is hydrogen storage. But the utility is for others to figure out.

(Source Miraz Jordan, knowit.co.nz, NZ Herald)

24/06/14 - Visa waiver for Macao approved

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Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse today announced that nationals of Macao Special Administrative Region of China (Macao) will no longer need a visitor visa to travel to New Zealand for a short visit.

“The visa waiver will make it easier for Macao nationals to come to New Zealand, which will create opportunities for business, cultural and social exchanges,” Mr Woodhouse says.

“This agreement recognises the growing engagement between New Zealand and Macao.

“Macao’s growing business and tourism sectors present potential opportunities for New Zealand to develop export markets in food and beverages.’’

The visa waiver will come into force on 30 June 2014. Currently around 240 Macanese visit New Zealand per year and tourism is expected to grow with the visa waiver in place.

New Zealand visitors already enjoy visa free access to Macao with around 14,000 New Zealanders travelling to Macao each year.

(Source Beehive)

19/06/14 - Economy enjoys 3.3% annual rate growth

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New Zealand's economy grew at a 3.3 percent annual rate in the first three months of the year, the fastest first-quarter pace in eight years, supporting the central bank's view that it must press on with interest rate increases to keep inflation at bay.

The economy grew 1 percent pace in the first three months of the year, from an upwardly revised 1 percent gain in the fourth quarter, marking three quarters of growth at 1 percent or above, Statistics New Zealand said.

Quarterly growth was below the 1.2 percent expected in a Reuters poll of economists although the annual rate beat the forecast for 3.1 percent.

New Zealand's economic expansion in the latest quarter was helped by a 12.5 percent rise in construction, which accounted for two-thirds of GDP growth and marked its largest increase in 14 years.

Last week, the Reserve Bank said the economy's expansion had "considerable momentum" and raised its estimate for growth in the first half of the year to 4 percent from 3.5 percent.

The New Zealand dollar fell to 87.19 US cents from 87.34 cents immediately before the report was released. The trade-weighted index eased to 81.15 from 81.25.

Growth in construction was strong in Canterbury, and the rest of the country, the statistics agency said.

Construction has surged in Christchurch as the city is being rebuilt following its series of earthquakes.

Mining was the second-largest contributor to growth in the quarter, up 6.3 percent, the agency said.

The rise was driven by oil and gas extraction activity which marked its largest quarterly growth since the December 2007 quarter.

Meantime, retail trade and accommodation increased 1.4 percent as retail trade rose 0.9 percent driven by an increase in furniture, electrical and hardware retailing.

Dragging on growth, wholesale trade activity fell 1.5 percent, partly due to a decrease in machinery and equipment wholesaling.

(Source NZN)

12/06/14 - International education numbers set to grow

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International student numbers in New Zealand look set to grow again following the worst effects of the global financial crisis and the Christchurch earthquakes, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse say.

The International Education Snapshot: 2013 full year report, released today, provides a snapshot of the trends in New Zealand’s international education industry for the 2013 academic year.

“The second half of 2013 – and early indications from 2014 – showed good signs of a lift in international student numbers particularly at higher levels,” Mr Joyce says.

“Last year, New Zealand providers taught more international postgraduate students – with numbers up 11 per cent on 2012, and more international students studied at New Zealand’s secondary schools and universities, which experienced growth of two per cent and four per cent respectively.

“In addition, full-year revenue from international students’ fees in 2013 was up by $9.5 million on 2012 to $755 million.”

Mr Woodhouse says the report indicates a strong end to 2013 that has left New Zealand well placed for growth in international student numbers in 2014.

“The number of international students enrolling with New Zealand providers from the period May to December 2013 increased by 4 per cent on the same period in 2012. Student visa data for early 2014 indicates these numbers are continuing to grow,” Mr Woodhouse says.

“Total approved student visas, which are available before enrolment data, were up 22 per cent in the January to March 2014 period on 2013, bringing total student visas back up to 2010 levels.”

The ministers also released a progress update on the Government’s actions in achieving the goals of the Leadership Statement for International Education which was launched three years ago.

“The report outlines a number of significant policy changes that have improved the environment for international education and improved the safeguards for our international reputation,” Mr Joyce says.

“New Zealand’s international education industry our fifth largest export industry. In 2013, an independent Infometrics report valued the industry at $2.6 billion annually. The industry also supports 28,000 jobs around New Zealand.

“Global connections are essential to New Zealand’s continued prosperity. Through international education we build our people-to-people links with the world, increase cultural understanding and receive significant economic benefit while these students study, live and travel in New Zealand.”

The International Education Snapshot: 2013 full report and the Leadership Statement for International Education – Progress Update, are available at: http://www.enz.govt.nz/news/international-education-reports-released

(Source Beehive)

05/05/14 - Introduction to Prevent People Trafficking Conference 2014

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I’d like to start by thanking the hosts of this conference – the Salvation Army, the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, and the New Zealand Police – for inviting me to open the two day Prevent People Trafficking Conference. 

I’d like to welcome the two keynote speakers - Detective Inspector Kevin Hyland from the London Metropolitan Police’s Special Crime Directorate on Human Exploitation and Organised Crime; and Phil Marshall, a Director of the Mekong Club, a Hong Kong-based private sector initiative against modern forms of slavery.  Both men have travelled long distances to be at the conference and I know that the information they share with you will be extremely valuable. I would also like to thank Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Embassy Marie Damour for her work in this area.

It goes without saying that people trafficking is a heinous crime and a grave violation of human rights. The United Nations has stated that thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers every year, both in their own countries and abroad.

In New Zealand, we have been very lucky – to date, our authorities have not identified or verified any case of people trafficking.  But this does not mean that we can be complacent. The Government remains alert to the possibility of people trafficking occurring here, and we continue to take steps to ensure we have the measures in place to not only punish those who perpetrate this terrible crime, but also to protect and support victims.

New Zealand has effected stringent and comprehensive anti-trafficking laws as part of the Crimes Act, and this includes measures to punish those who arrange entry, reception, concealment or harbouring of persons through coercion and/or deception.  The penalties for trafficking – a maximum penalty of up to 20 years imprisonment and or a $500,000 fine – reflect how seriously we view the crime.

The sex industry and labour in the horticulture/viticulture industries have been identified as high risk sectors for trafficking in the New Zealand context. INZ has a role in educating employers to ensure they are aware of their legal responsibilities and undertakes enforcement activities in these industries to ensure compliance with this and other Acts. In addition, these industries are regulated via policy and legislation that allow transparency and access to these industries by government officials who are, therefore, well placed to detect any trafficking activity.

Government agencies, NGOs and community groups – including many of you here today - have been involved in significant work to raise awareness of possible people trafficking and to ensure assistance is available for any victims identified.

I applaud your efforts to date, because there is no doubt in my mind that communities have an important role to play in helping identify and support victims of trafficking or migrant exploitation. 

People can help simply by being aware of the signs or indicators of trafficking or exploitation; knowing how to report potential cases; and being aware of how to interact with potential victims.   Two of your hosts today, Immigration New Zealand and the Salvation Army, have of course worked with Stop the Traffik Aotearoa New Zealand to develop online training to assist people in doing all of these things.

While we have been fortunate so far in the trafficking space, there is no denying that migrant exploitation has been an increasing issue for New Zealand in the last year or so. 

As you well know, migrant workers are a particularly vulnerable section of the workforce as they are less likely to be aware of their rights and entitlements than their New Zealand colleagues.  Exploitation of that vulnerability – such as paying migrant workers less than the minimum wage, or making them work excessive hours – is not welcome and will not be tolerated by this Government.

I have been very energetic in impressing upon migrant communities that in New Zealand our laws and those charged with upholding and enforcing them can be trusted. Exploited persons should speak up confident that the focus will be on the perpetrators, not the victims. 

The Government introduced a Bill in late 2013 that imposes significant penalties on employers who exploit migrants working here lawfully.  The law already provides penalties for exploitative employers of unlawful migrants and it’s only right that there is consistent treatment for employers of lawful migrants.   Exploitative migrant employers could also face deportation if the offence was committed within 10 years of gaining residence.

Strengthening the sanctions and judicial process to expedite prosecutions and provide a strong deterrent is one plank of the Government’s strategy to prevent migrant exploitation. 

Sitting alongside this, work is under way to improve our ability to detect and investigate employers who engage in migrant exploitation. 

Government agencies, in particular Immigration New Zealand and the Labour Inspectorate, are paying particular attention to the Canterbury region, where there has been an influx of migrant workers to assist with the post-earthquake rebuild.  The focus is primarily on identification and prevention of labour exploitation and I was extremely pleased to be able to announce recently – along with my colleague, Labour Minister Simon Bridges – that the Government is spending more than $7 million over the next four years to do just that. 

The money will be used to boost the number of labour inspectors and immigration officers dealing with the Canterbury rebuild and will result in an extra 20 investigations or serious or high-profile cases over an initial 18-month period.

There is also a significant amount of work going on to educate and empower migrant workers and their employers to understand and act on their rights and obligations.

Just a couple of weeks ago I launched the latest resources developed by Immigration New Zealand’s Settlement Unit, targeted to migrant workers and employers in the aged care sector.  The resources include information on minimum employment rights, health and safety, improving workplace communications and where to go for further settlement support. 

The Settlement Unit has previously released similar guides for the dairy and construction sectors, and for Pacific communities.  The guides have been extremely popular and are proving to be valuable resources for employers and employees.  I believe there are copies available here today and I encourage those of you who haven’t seen the guides to have a look. 

The final plank in the Government’s strategy to prevent migrant exploitation is ensuring that we improve our knowledge of migrant exploitation, and our understanding of the effectiveness of our responses.  To this end, MBIE has put in place a programme of research work to better understand the extent of migrant exploitation, sources of migrant vulnerability, and evidence around effective interventions to mitigate vulnerability.  You will be hearing later today about the first piece of work undertaken as part of that research programme. 

I’d like to finish up by thanking you all for your attendance at this conference.  There is no doubt that we all need to work together to combat people trafficking and migrant exploitation, and I’m enormously encouraged to see the number and calibre of the people here who are doing just that.  I wish you all the best for what I’m sure will be an enjoyable and constructive two days. 

Thank you.

(Source M Woodhouse)

24/04/14 - New visa to build Turkey-New Zealand ties

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Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse has announced a new three year multiple-entry visa to make it easier for Turkish business people and diplomats to visit New Zealand.

Mr Woodhouse made the announcement during a visit to Turkey, where he is meeting with his Australian and Turkish counterparts to discuss next year’s planned centenary events and attending the 99th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings.

“New Zealand and Turkey have a special relationship through Gallipoli,” Mr Woodhouse says.

“Both of our Governments have committed to building deeper ties as we look towards, and beyond, the centenary commemorations of Gallipoli next year.’’

Turkey is New Zealand’s 44th largest trade partner with bilateral trade valued at around $209 million a year.

Mr Woodhouse says the three year multiple-entry visa is designed to encourage more trade between the two countries, as well as facilitating travel to New Zealand for business and diplomatic visitors.

“New Zealand has a similar arrangement with China which has been extremely successful in strengthening business connections between China and New Zealand, and I’m confident that the agreement with Turkey will produce similar results.’’

(Source The Beehive)

23/04/14 - Cebu Pacific considers NZ route

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Philippines low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific is eyeing New Zealand as a possible destination following a new air service agreement between the two countries.

According to reports out of Manila, Cebu is so far the only carrier to register interest in the route. Its application will be heard next month.

Under the agreement reached last month, 21 flights will be permitted between the two countries, up from three at present.

The airline also plans to launch services to five destinations in the Middle East and one in Australia this year using Airbus A330-300s.

Earlier this month the European Union lifted a ban on Cebu Pacific flying to Europe, citing the airline's improvement in security and safety.

The airline, which operates a fleet of 50 Airbus aircraft, is the biggest carrier in the Philippines and one of the largest budget airlines in Asia.

CAPA centre for aviation said the airline was in a "particularly strong and improving position" in the Philippine domestic market.

(Source NZ Herald)

17/04/14 - Chipper' Kiwis push up consumer confidence

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Consumer confidence is up giving Kiwis a greater enthusiasm for buying major household items. Photo / NZ Herald
New Zealand consumer confidence rose in April as Kiwis became more confident about their own financial position, giving them greater enthusiasm for buying major household items.

The ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index rose to 134 this month, from 132 in March. The current conditions rose to 130.3 from 125.7 and the future conditions index eased to 135.8 from 136.2.

"The economy is expanding rapidly, more jobs are being created, the housing market is still buoyant, the high New Zealand dollar is keeping the price of imported goods and those big-ticket items suppressed. Prospects for wages to move up are improving by the day," said ANZ Bank New Zealand chief economist Cameron Bagrie. "That's a chipper combination."

The Reserve Bank noted the "considerable momentum" in the economy when it lifted the official cash rate a quarter point to 2.75 percent and is expected to hike the OCR to 3 per cent next week to head off increasing inflationary pressures.

The ANZ-Roy Morgan composite index, which combines consumer and business confidence, implies annual economic growth of almost 6 per cent.

"We're positive but not that bullish," Bagrie said. "We're picking solid as opposed to bumper spending trends." While consumer sentiment is elevated, household balance sheets remain heavily indebted and the savings rate remains poor, he said. At the same time, the central bank is raising borrowing costs.

The April survey of 958 people showed a net 13 per cent felt they and their families were better off than a year ago, an improvement from 8 percent in last month's survey.

Looking out a year, a net 40 per cent felt they would be better off, up from 36 per cent last month.

Those deeming it a good time to buy a major household item increased to a net 47 per cent from 44 per cent and those thinking house prices would rise in the next two years rose to 72 per cent from 71 per cent, while the size of the expected increase lifted to 3.9 per cent from 3.8 per cent.

Perceptions of the broader economy eased slightly. A net 33 per cent saw better economic conditions in the next 12 months, down from 34 percent a month ago, and those seeing good times for the next five years slipped to a net 34 percent from 38 per cent.

(Source NZ Herald BusinessDesk)