Budget 09: High-tech industries also need a boost

28rd May 2009

Budget 09: High-tech industries also need a boost

IPENZ believes funding in high technology industries also needs to be supported alongside the primary and food sectors to ensure New Zealand’s future economic growth.

“The funding for the Primary Growth Partnership to invest in innovation in the primary and food sectors is essential for long term economic growth, but no nation has become wealthy on biology alone. What we don’t see in this year’s budget is a boost for high technology industries,” says Tim Davin, Director of Policy for the Institution of Professional Engineers of New Zealand.

“Whilst a well performing biological sector will ensure that New Zealand drops no further down the OECD league table, we also need a major focus on creating high tech industries in the manufacturing, ICT and design industries that will create highly skilled jobs,” says Mr Davin.

“The very rapid rise in prosperity of a large number of nations in Asia was because of investment in product engineering and associated industrial design. This creates high productivity and a highly skilled workforce. In order for New Zealand to make a step change in economic prosperity we need to build the physical technology-based industries alongside our commodity industries,” he says.

“IPENZ welcomes the additional infrastructure spend on road, rail and broadband, as this is essential to support jobs in the short term and to lift New Zealand’s labour productivity in the longer term. The home insulation initiative is also a key component of improving energy efficiency.”

ENDS

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