A group of businesspeople wants to push for 5 percent economic growth every year, but one economist is sceptical.
Growth NZ is made up of Brendan Vercoe, Bowen Pan, Anna Kominik, Alyssa Laakmann, David Booth, Sam Blackman, Maya Pan, Henry Wang and Malinidi Maclean.
It launched on Wednesday with five areas it said should be the priority to grow the economy and improve outcomes for New Zealanders: education, investment, talent, innovation and revenue.
It said New Zealand needed to be the most “AI literate and future-ready small nation in the world” through education and industry training.
Innovation should be encouraged through policy reform.
There should be competition in banking, and diversification in the energy sector.
It also said there should be a “relentless focus” on tapping into the million New Zealanders living overseas, encouraging those people to participate in the growth of the country.
It also wanted tax changes to support business, particularly small exporters.
Vercoe said the idea came from a feeling of uncertainty about the economy. “Low wages, public services are strained. For me the worst thing is that the kids are heading overseas for their opportunities and better wages. These problems are long-term and structural and the solution needs to be long-term and structural as well.
“We believe that if we get the economic growth a lot of the other problems in terms of the strained public service and wages, they’re improved automatically when you have strong economic growth. It needs to be sustainable.”
He said the group would start advocating to political parties this year.
“If we talk short term, a win would be policy change for the political parties.
“We’re keen to set the ambition for making people realise that economic growth is a good thing for everyone. If we have an ambition, I think New Zealand can come together and work towards that. We’re really optimistic.”
He said New Zealand had been “capital poor” over the past 20 years. “Over the next 20 years, there is potential for us to be quite capital-rich with KiwiSaver. A big part of our problem with productivity is looking backwards. If we’re disciplined, if we’re focused, if we have policy coherence moving forward, the opportunity is there waiting for us.”
Vercoe said the group could work with whoever was in government.
Policies would be given more detail over time.
But Shamubeel Eaqub, chief economist at Simplicity, said it was good to have a target but what mattered would be how it was achieved. “What investment are we willing to make for that future growth. It’s not a question of target, it’s a question of what we’re willing to invest in to lead to that long-term growth. You can’t have one without he other. What is behind it to make it happen?”
