Mr President, Jesse Nguy, Vice President, Sammy Wong and my Honourable colleague Pansy Wong, Minister of Ethnic Affairs, thank you for inviting me here this evening. This is indeed a wonderful occasion and one that reflects the changing face of Auckland. I am especially pleased to have been invited to address the New Zealand Chinese Business Chamber because it is an organisation that represents, in the most positive way, the promise that our new Chinese community holds for the Auckland region in particular and New Zealand generally.

Your Chamber plays a very important role - founded less than a decade ago with the aim of establishing stronger business links between our new Chinese community and New Zealand business. In business, networks are everything and, as is evident from the over two hundred guests here this evening, that is something your Chamber does very well indeed.

Settling in a foreign country with a different language and business culture is an enormous challenge and something that few of us would have the courage to even contemplate. The fact that so many of you here this evening have done just that and, what is more, have succeeded in your business ventures is a remarkable achievement and something of which you can be justifiably proud.

However - in spite of these successes, many of our new Chinese migrants remain disconnected from the mainstream of New Zealand business and as a result we are missing out on much of the dynamism and energy that these new migrants bring.

The Government through its national Settlement Support network is committed to accelerating the economic and social integration of new migrants. However, these are things that are best achieved by communities themselves working together. That is why this Chamber is so important and sets such a valuable precedent for our migrant communities. With the experience and resources available to you, you set up your own organisation and set out to make your own way. One does not have to look far to see the results of this type of entrepreneurial approach. In the last decade Auckland has been transformed and that transformation owes much to our new Chinese migrants. There is not time to list all that your members have achieved but I am able to mention just a few of the Chamber's many successes.

The Sommerfield Business Park - New Zealand's first multicultural business centre.

The Fruitworld chain which now has 22 retail stores in the Auckland region.

The Maraetai vineyard and resort.

A Potato chip company in South Auckland called Fresher Foods Ltd. They produce frozen potato chips and export to Australia and other Pacific regions. Their turnover is in the multi millions annually.

Another multi million dollar business, a research centre which is basing its research on the Chinese fungus (Lingzhi) which has high medicinal value.

 

This is just a few examples - there are too many to mention.

These are the achievements of a self reliant and enterprising community - they are achievements that all New Zealanders benefit from. The achievements of your members demonstrate this sentiment in its fullest and most practical sense.

This type of success does not come without commitment. I understand that your President, Jesse Nguy, cut short a business trip to China in order to be here this evening. There is also much New Zealand businesses can do to realise fully the potential that commercial partnerships with new Chinese businesses can offer.

New Zealand - China Free Trade Agreement

Although we may still have some way to go, the prospects are promising. As you will be aware, New Zealand is the first Western country to have concluded a Free Trade Agreement with China. Trade between our two countries is set to expand dramatically but this growth will be driven by individual entrepreneurs not by Government. It will be driven by people like you.

Governments can certainly facilitate this process and the New Zealand-China Free Trade Agreement does just that. The Agreement of course covers a large number of issues and I'd like to highlight just two areas that are of particular relevance to your members.

Chinese business people will now find it easier to do business here. New Zealand has made service commitments in a number of sectors including education, computer technology and construction.

This should smooth the process of doing business and allow the access and time needed to develop more complex and longer-term business ventures.

Visa conditions have also been improved and processes have been sped up too - for both countries. The Free Trade Agreement makes it easier for New Zealand and Chinese nationals to enter each other's country for a temporary stay related to the supply of services. Both countries have made a commitment to make a decision within ten working days of receiving a completed temporary application.

The Free Trade Agreement allows for skilled workers in specific occupations from China to enter New Zealand for temporary employment, without labour market testing. So there are 200 places for traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, places for 150 Mandarin teaching aides, 200 places for Chinese chefs, 150 "wushu" martial arts coaches and 100 Chinese tourist guides. Of course they are subject to specified qualifications, work experience requirements and the requirement of a bona fide job offer.

Alongside the FTA, New Zealand has established a working holiday scheme with China. The scheme provides for a maximum of 1000 Chinese nationals per year to enter New Zealand for one year. The scheme will allow young, skilled Chinese to engage in tourism and incidental employment in New Zealand and may assist in meeting labour shortages in areas such as the hospitality, horticulture and viticulture industries.

Business Migration Package

As many of you will be aware, the Government recently announced a new Business Migration package and I expect this will be of particular interest to your members.

The Government came to power with the declared intention of setting realistic investment capital and English language requirements for business immigrants.

I believe we have delivered on this promise.

Since 2005, there has been a significant drop off in business migration investment due to unrealistic investment expectations and English language requirements.

Over the last 30 years, New Zealand's business migration policies have had consistent goals - to create jobs and boost the economy by allowing business people to migrate to New Zealand and support the growth of local firms. But the policies have gone through many changes all with mixed success. More relaxed policy settings have facilitated greater number of migrants but with higher risks. Tighter settings have ensured better quality results but have also resulted in fewer migrants settling here. The main problem with the previous Government's policy is that it has had low uptake, due to restrictive language and capital requirements.

Since 2005, changes to the business investor categories have resulted in a decrease in the number of migrants applying and lower levels of investment in the New Zealand economy.

We needed a fresh approach and this is it. 

Attracting the right business migrants was identified as a high priority initiative at the recent Jobs Summit-one that was suggested by business leaders who understand what we need to kickstart our economy.

Business migrants can bring significant economic benefits to New Zealand, supporting local firms (or the government) by transferring their financial and human capital to New Zealand.

This new package will make it easier to attract migrants who want to invest in local businesses, create real jobs and bring high-value economic benefits to New Zealand.

The previous schemes also failed to strike the right balance between level of investment and quality of investment.

The scheme introduced in 1999 attracted a high number of investors and money, however as there was no requirement to invest in businesses many migrants simply brought property.

Changes in 2005 tightened up how business migrants had to invest their money as well as increasing the level of investment required. This saw a marked drop off in both the number of the migrants and the money invested.

Further changes were made in 2007, adding the Global and Professional investor categories. The minimum requirement for this category was $20 million each (that category had 2 applicants). The Professional investor category had a requirement of $10 million per applicant. (That category received one applicant) And in the general category where the minimum investment required was $2.5 million there were 20 applicants.

There was added confusion as investors had to have active and passive investment. The General investor category has high levels of English and low age restrictions.

The policies of the previous government quite simply failed to attract the level of investment we need. 

Back in 2005, business migrants weren't able to exercise their entrepreneurial skills because they were forced into investing in government bonds with a low return. Then, when that changed in 2007, unrealistic requirements around English language proficiency and amount of investment meant that we still couldn't attract high value business investors to grow jobs for New Zealand.

For investor migrants we have streamlined three categories into two, with more realistic requirements for capital, language skills and time spent in New Zealand annually. We have also provided far greater flexibility in terms of investment vehicles, allowing investors to put their money into government bonds (central or local), bonds issued by New Zealand firms, or equity in New Zealand firms (public or private including managed funds).

The new policy is simple and effective, allowing the best possible applicants to be chosen in each of the two new business migrant categories.

The Investor Category allows us to prioritise our more mainstream applicants according to investment amount, youth, business experience and English language ability. That way, we can make sure we bring the best, most valuable candidates to New Zealand.

So far there have been sixteen expressions of interest, nine invitations to apply are in hand and a total of three Investor Plus ($10M) applications are now in process. Not bad for a policy that is barely a month old.

The New Zealand Chinese Chamber has already made a significant contribution to New Zealand business. I am confident that the ties between the Chinese business community and mainstream New Zealand business will continue to deepen in the years ahead. Your members have and will continue to play a central part in this country's economic development. That is something that will directly benefit thousands of New Zealanders by providing jobs and business opportunities that would not otherwise exist. Your potential is huge and I am excited by that. It is a privilege to be here tonight to acknowledge the contribution you have made. Thank you.