Entrepreneurs ‘bring millions’

Press, 15 February 1982, Page 1

Entrepreneurs ‘bring millions’

PA Auckland Skilled entrepreneurs were migrating to New Zealand with up to $2.5 million each, and interest from others was “hotting up," said the Minister of Immigration (Mr Malcolm) yesterday. Since the Government’s new entrepreneur policy was introduced in 1980 there had been 49 applications approved, he said. The capital these people

were bringing to New Zealand varied from $5l),0f)() to $2.5 million, with $250,000 about the average. "Interest from overseas, businessmen in living in New Zealand is hotting up,” Mr Malcolm said. Some 14 applications were approved in 1980, 30 last year, and five in January this year. Another 30 applications were under consideration.

The entrepreneurs came mainly from the United States, Britain. West Germany. and the Netherlands. Others were from Switzerland. Sweden. Singapore, and Hong Kong.

Mr Malcolm said that they were engaged in a wide field of enterprises, including horticulture. tourism, fish processing and marketing, the export of fashion knitwear, and the manufacture of

aluminium and other metal products, jewellery, and plastic goods. The amount of capital they were prepared to bring to New Zealand was not the main consideration in deciding eligibility, he said. The Government was looking for proved entrepreneurial skills and the ability to set up businesses which would create employment and export sales. Capital

needs were, of course, linked to that but some applicants were being approved with as little as 550.000. The Government was not looking for "passive investors” and would turn down someone who had, say, S 3 million to invest if he fell into this category. Many of the successful applicants had business ventures which they wanted to shift to New Zealand.