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New Zealand aiming for better quality foreign investment

Xinhua, December 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

International investors and companies are showing greater confidence in the New Zealand economy, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce said on Friday.

A report from the government's New Zealand Trade and Enterprise agency showed the country was attracting a higher level of quality international investment in three key areas, Joyce said in a statement.

"We are seeing increased foreign direct investment, increased investment in international research and development, and more commitments from migrant investors," said Joyce.

New Zealand's stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) stood at 38 percent of gross domestic product last year - "about average for a small, open, advanced economy," said the report.

Most of the investment - 52 percent - came from Australia and 32 percent was invested into the financial sector.

In 2015, FDI in New Zealand stood at 96.4 billion NZ dollars (68.35 billion U.S. dollars).

The report said the agency was trying to attract investment that provided access to major high-growth opportunities, created sustainable export and employment growth, and integrated with global value chains.

It was also looking for investment that required engineering, business, skills investment, promoted renewable services industries, and provided research and development linkages.

"The market for global growth capital is very competitive and investors have lots of options. It's crucial New Zealand markets itself effectively so we can attract our share of the available investment and grow more jobs here," said Joyce.

"In the past year alone we have seen 59 significant foreign direct investment deals, as well as three confirmed research and development deals by large multinational companies," he said.

"Over the last seven years migrant investors have committed to invest over 4 billion NZ dollars (2.84 billion U.S. dollars) here, while the government has recently announced a four-year pilot of up to 400 visas for high impact entrepreneurs from around the world to develop and launch their ideas from New Zealand." Endit