$100M for N.Z. from software

Press, 9 October 1987, Page 17

$100M for N.Z. from software

New Zealand’s software exports are expected to earn the country around $lOO million this year, according to the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr David Caygill. Mr Caygill was speaking at the opening of Datamark International’s new branch office in Christchurch yesterday. Mr Caygill said that the contribution of the services sector to the economy was understated and under-rated. "Because thp output of the service sector is not always tangible, service industries tend to be dismissed as unproductive,” the Minister said. “People see the manufactuing sector decline and fear that the economy must be in decline. But our. service in-

dustries are beginning to replace manufacturing in their contribution to our national income. And some of the fastest growth is in software and computer-related services,” he said. Mr Caygill said that many industries today were “driven” by computers, especially in the fields of finance, insurance, telecommunications, and transport. He said that as the cost of hardware fell, smaller firms that could not previously justify the capital outlay now found it within their reach. And consequently the global software market was booming and demand was outstripping supply. The potential for New Zealand software suppliers was enormous, he said.