N.Z. lags in electronics

Press, 14 September 1988, Page 40

N.Z. lags in electronics

New Zealanders have too little understanding of the .crucial role technological development plays in economic development, the director of the DSIR, Dr Don Barnes, has said. In the chairman’s report to the annual meeting of the National Electronics Development Association, Dr Barnes identified a need to recognise the importance of manufacturing in general. He said other countries had achieved economic growth through the development of manufacturing, where electornicsbased automation and control had been a key factor. “Early this year I visited India to attend the general congress of the Asian Electronic Union and it was interesting to find the great value most of the Asian countries present placed on the development of an indigenous electronics industry. In years gone by it was possible to go from New Zealand and be proud of the standard of our own development. “I came away this year with a feeling that perhaps we were no longer in a position to offer much to most of the Asian countries. Almost all of them had much more highly developed electronics industries than New Zealand. It was also clear that their governments considered technological industries very important, not just for international prestige reasons, but because of their strategic importance for economic development.”

New Zealand had always been concerned with application rather than components. Electronics remained the key to international competitiveness for most manufacturing industries. Automation

and processing had been critical to the success of many countries Dr Barnes said Japan had embarked on a programme of electronics development when its textile industry become uncompetitive. The programme involved mutual planning between industry and the Government, and the retraining of staff from the old industries. "New Zealanders have the mistaken idea that management of the economy involves standing by watching the Christians being fed to the lions. “But it is not only Asian countries which have achieved an economic miracle in the last 20 years. Sweden, with a population of 8 million, has also managed a transition from an agricultural to a manufacturing economy. “New Zealand has not been a rural society for many years. For some reason we are well aware of the effect a downturn in agricultural markets' has on the rural community, but do not seem to understand the even more dramatic effect of the ‘linkages’ between manufacturing and the urban community. “With over 70 per cent of our population living in urban communities the myopia is surprising.” However, Dr Barnes said the outlook for electronics was not all bad. Many companies had made the transition from consumer to professional electronics, resulting in some exciting new products for the. local and export markets. “There is a growing interest in both Hong Kong and Japan in investment in New Zealand, and the electronics industry is often a favoured area.”