Government Urged To Seek More Foreign Investment

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31760, 17 August 1968, Page 1

Government Urged To Seek More Foreign Investment

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, August 16. The Government will be approached by the leaders of a panel held in Wellington today and urged to encourage greater private overseas investment in New Zealand.

The panel was sponsored by the American Trade Association of New Zealand. It xvas addressed by Ministers, economists, business leaders, and the Ambassador of the United States (Mr J. F. Henning).

The chairman, Mr W. J. Wills, said its findings would be collated by the association and would be conveyed to the Government. The meeting decided not to submit its findings to the National Development Conference, which will meet later this month to discuss investment targets. Summing up his impressions of the discussion the secretary of the American Trade Association (Mr E. A. Tarrant) said New Zealand should strenuously seek more export markets in the next five years. It could not do this without more overseas investment.

He said the advantages of overseas investment far outweighed the disadvantages and New Zealand should seek as much overseas capital as it could get. Overseas investment in New Zealand was most effective when it was to the mutual advantage of the investor and New Zealand, the Minister of Industries and Commerce (Mr Marshall) said to the panel. He appealed to would-be overseas investors to think of their investment not only in terms of private gain. “It’s got to be in the best interests of New Zealand and in the longer-term interests of New Zealand,” Mr Marshall said. “Investment has got to be good for the private investor, in security and opportunities. “But we have to see that it will develop our resources, not just buy up assets.” “Ours is an investmenthungry country and this is likely to continue,” said the Minister of Finance (Mr Muldoon). “As long as overseas investment is sufficiently productive there need be no serious cause for concern about the balance-of-payments bur-

den or about any possible misallocation of resources." he said. “1 am continually surprised at the emotional way in which some people approach overseas investment in the

light of the strong advantages of such investment. “It is obvious that we would be a poorer place without the very considerable investment that has taken place.” he said.

Mr Muldoon said that because of New Zealand’s limited market and resources it was not always possible to provide the research, technology. and funds in every field where these were required. “Not many large New Zealand firms, at this stage, operate successfully in any field where continuous large-scale research is a basic requirement, unless in association with an overseas investor.” he said.

Official policy was to encourage overseas companies to issue shares to the New Zealand public or to participate in joint ventures with New Zealand-owned companies, said Mr Muldoon.

Mr Muldoon said it was clear that the ratio of income remitted overseas to export income had been about 4 per cent for many years. “It is Government policy to ensure that New Zealand receives the maximum benefit from overseas investment, but we consider that the profits accruing to overseas investors are normally outstripped by the profits which this country gains," said Mr Muldoon.