Māori Export Competitiveness
Purpose
There has been a lot of recent discussion about the need to re-balance the New
Zealand economy, especially in light of the global recession. Part of this
re-balancing means shifting the economy away from the non-tradable sector
towards industries that compete with imports or are exportable – the tradable
sector. To support this re-balancing the Government has set a goal of increasing
the value of New Zealand’s exports to 40 percent of GDP by 2025.1
Te Puni Kōkiri wants to gain a better understanding of the economic benefits of
exporting, areas of New Zealand’s exporting advantage, and some strategies to
enter export markets. This understanding will inform Te Puni Kōkiri’s actions as
it supports Māori businesses to allocate their capital resource and increase
their international activities.
This report:
- provides an overview of the well-known benefits from exporting;
- provides
potential areas of Māori exporting strength, based on recent research of New
Zealand’s areas of export strength;
- discusses a framework that businesses may
follow when deciding how to enter an export market; and
- reviews the existing
Government mechanisms that assist businesses to begin or expand exports.
1 This goal was stated when the current government introduced its ‘Economic Growth Agenda’. See speech from August
2009 by Hon Gerry Brownlee titled ‘Priorities for New Zealand in the current economic environment’. http://gerrybrownlee.
co.nz/index.php?/archives/130-Opening-Address-to-the-2009-EDANZ-Conference.html
Also see CBC (10) 19 - Medium Term Economic Growth Agenda: Science and Innovation Initiatives. Released 8 Jul 2010.
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/informationreleases/budget/2010/pdfs/b10-cbc10-19.pdf
