NZ ranks as one of best in the world for business
new-zealand-labour-party
Thu Sep 10 2009 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
NZ ranks as one of best in the world for business
Thursday, 10 September 2009, 12:17 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party
Ross Robertson
Small Business Spokesperson
10 September 2009 Media Statement
New Zealand ranks as one of the best in the world for business
Labour is delighted with New Zealand’s second place ranking in the World Bank Doing Business survey, Small Business Spokesperson Ross Robertson says.
Mr Robertson said New Zealand’s regulatory environment has consistently ranked either No 1 or No 2 by the World Bank since the survey began.
“This year New Zealand also ranked first in the world for starting a business and protecting investors. New Zealanders are ambitious and dream of owning and operating their own business. Many exist on the smell of an oily rag.
“For New Zealand to remain second in the world overall is a fantastic result given these challenging economic times.
“I am proud of Labour’s commitment to business and I believe it was this drive to help support business that has ensured New Zealand’s consistently high rating.
“Labour was the first Government to have a Minister for Small Business and while in Opposition I will be working hard to advocate for business as I did when last in opposition.
“New Zealand businesses need considerable support and advocacy during these testing times if we are to remain internationally competitive.
“They should be recognised but have been left out of the equation when it came to planning for economic recovery despite them employing nearly 90 percent of Kiwis in the workforce.
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“Small businesses weren’t included in the nine day fortnight and the Government has largely ignored the contribution they can make in helping to keep the economy strong.
“Small business is the locomotive of growth and Labour celebrates the success this sector has achieved with this ranking and recognises the important role they will play in helping this country recover from the recession,” Ross Robertson said.
ENDS
Labour’s record for small business
• The former Labour government showed an unprecedented commitment to supporting small businesses.
• Ours was the first government to have created a Small Business Minister portfolio, established a Small and Medium Enterprises Policy Team within the
Ministry of Economic Development; and set up specialised small business units within a range of government ministries and departments (including the
Department of Labour, Inland Revenue Department, Ministry for the
Environment, Statistics New Zealand and Te Puni Kokiri).
• In 2003 the Labour government established the Small Business Advisory Group (SBAG) to provide this direct link. SBAG acts as a sounding board for government policy development, it identifies issues impacting on the growth and development of SMEs, and it suggests priorities for action and explores solutions. These direct links to the small business community allow the government to learn first-hand about the concerns and challenges facing this vital sector.
• The 2009 World Bank Doing Business survey showed that New Zealand is the second best country in the world for ease of doing business. New Zealand's regulatory environment has consistently ranked either number 1 or number 2 by the World Bank since the survey began. The placing recognised the Labour government's ongoing drive to improve the regulatory environment for business.
Reducing the compliance burden…
• Reducing the compliance burden for businesses is a key priority for Labour. That was part of the reason that we undertook the Quality Regulation Review.
• The Labour government cut the company tax rate in 2008 for the first time since 1988. We also introduced tax credits for research and development.
• We had legislation before Parliament that would have seen compliance costs reduced by raising a number of tax thresholds – these changes made up much of the Small Business relief package that National announced in February.
• The Labour government had agreed, in principle, to investigate Standard Business Reporting for New Zealand. Standard Business Reporting would allow businesses to file information only once with government, in one place, and from there it would be distributed to the agencies that are entitled to that information. Based on calculations done for a similar system in Australia, the cost savings for New Zealand businesses are conservatively believed to be between $55-75 million every year, once the system is fully implemented.
• We also recognise that information is key to business, so the Labour government began making available for free a large range of Statistics New Zealand data and products that may be useful for New Zealand businesses.
• To make it more straight-forward for businesses to access information from the government, the Labour government set up The internet portal www.business.govt.nz, which provides a useful resource in looking across all government departments for assistance that is available.
• New Zealand’s regulatory framework is light years ahead of the vast majority of our international competitors thanks to the focus of the former Labour government. For example, the Companies Office uses text messaging to advise company directors that their company returns are due or a little late – something beyond the imagination of most overseas business registries. The European Union aspires to reduce the time it takes to register a new company to one week. New Zealand does it now in an hour or less – and enables the firm to get a tax number at the same time.
• Compliance costs are still the number one concern for most small businesses, but we made significant progress in reducing that burden while in government. For example, the 2008 Business New Zealand-KPMG Compliance Cost Survey showed that compliance costs have fallen by a third since 2005 for firms employing five or fewer staff.
Investment in skills…
• Productivity increases were supported by the former Labour government with a commitment of $168 million in operating funding over four years to provide workers with the right skills for the complexities of the modern workplace, as part of the New Zealand Skills Strategy. Investing in skills leads to higher work quality, better health and safety, and improved staff retention.
• We were also investing in management skills through ‘Management Focus’, a joint partnership between government and business that was encouraging more managers to develop their business skills.
• Labour in government successfully rebuilt apprenticeships and trade training, after the former National government destroyed apprenticeships in the 1990s. Now businesses can access the skilled people they need to grow.
Investment in innovation…
• Labour made a huge investment in innovation and skills. In Budget 2008 over $1.7 billion was allocated for work on boosting New Zealand’s productivity through innovation involving research and development, a quality tertiary sector and practical support for globally competitive firms.
• The New Zealand Fast Forward commitment was the largest ever boost to research, development, and innovation funding and would have helped transform New Zealand’s pastoral and food sectors to meet future challenges. But the National government has scrapped it.
• The 15 per cent tax credit for research and development (R&D) was introduced by the former Labour government on 1 July 2008. It was designed to materially assist the 2500 firms who undertake R&D. It was also designed to help address the single most important shortcoming in New Zealand R&D, which is the relatively low level of private sector investment. But the National government has scrapped it.
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