New Zealanders need to learn to celebrate our successes in the boardroom and market place in a similar way to the way we those on the sporting ground, Economic Development Minister Jim Anderton says.

He has announced a $3.4 million Industry New Zealand initiative aimed at celebrating and fostering entrepreneurial activity and business success in New Zealand.

“New Zealanders are very talented, creative, innovative people – and a recent international study ranked us the second most entrepreneurial country in the world. The trouble is, we seem to have trouble acknowledging that to ourselves.”

The aims of the new programme would be to foster:
 A culture in education where business is seen as a positive contributor to society and a worthwhile career aspiration for students;
 Students developing enterprising attitudes, and business-relevant skills;
 A climate which recognises and reinforces business success among existing and potential businesses; and
 A social culture which positively supports entrepreneurial activity and business success.

Jim Anderton says the Government will be launching a number of initiatives to promote and celebrate entrepreneurship. These include sponsorship of industry sector awards, an innovation event in Christchurch in March 2002, a regional innovation expo, and contestable funding for enterprising initiatives in schools and communities.

“New Zealanders’ belief in ourselves and our ability to do things has been undermined by successive governments. This government has had to put in place a number of complementary business programmes and initiatives in a short time.

“If New Zealand is to do better both economically and as a society we need to get more comfortable, and certainly a lot more enthusiastic, about celebrating our successes instead of dwelling on our failures,” Jim Anderton said.

The initiatives are part of the ‘celebrating a culture of success’ proposal announced in the 2001 Budget.

The strategy ties in with the Labour-Alliance coalition government’s determination to explore new ways of creating economic prosperity along with social well-being.

Proposals to achieve the outcomes sought will be called for in early 2002.

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