Speeches
Address to the New Zealand Pacific Business Council
The Grange Golf Club
2 Grange Rd, Papatoetoe, Auckland, July 31st 2008
Good evening and thank you for inviting me to speak with you tonight.
Over the next eight years New Zealand will spend more than $2 billion in development assistance to the Pacific region.
You may be asking: why?
One reason is simple economics. There are few, if any, examples in the world, of prosperous countries being surrounded by poor, unstable ones.
We have a direct interest in the Pacific being more prosperous than it is today, because it will lead to our own greater prosperity and help ensure New Zealand's safety and security.
Another reason is that to stand by idly while our neighbours decline runs counter to our values as New Zealanders.
Our instincts are towards international co-operation, humanitarianism and lending a hand.
What better place to begin then, than our own backyard, where the effects of poverty are becoming all too clear.
They can be seen in the squatter settlements of Fiji; in the terrible health statistics in Papua New Guinea.
And in the numbers of people who leave Pacific nations every year to seek a better life.
It’s in the shadow of such complex issues that our aid and development efforts in the Pacific region take place.
The problems are many and the need is urgent.
The New Zealand Pacific Development Strategy launched recently sets the shape and direction for our country's assistance to the region.
There are four pillars to the Strategy.
The first is strengthening governance.
New Zealand places a priority on this area because we know that a stable and prosperous Pacific requires good governance at all levels.
For this reason, New Zealand’s assistance is focussing on building leadership – from the grassroots to the political.
One of the main goals of our assistance will be to increase and strengthen the dialogue between governments, non-government organisations, and the private sector.
The second pillar of the strategy aims at achieving broader-based growth, and improved livelihoods.
Good governance alone won’t lift people out of poverty.
That depends directly on increasing economic growth and strengthening trade. No country in the world has achieved one without the other.
On this front, there has been progress at the recent Pacific Forum Trade Ministers meeting.
The meeting focussed on the importance of progressing trade and economic co-operation under the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations, as a means to promote growth and employment within the region.
New Zealand is an integral part of the Pacific and therefore we want to be part of building a consensus between Pacific nations on economic partnership.
Once we have this, trade and economic co-operation can be strengthened between all Forum members.
Forum Ministers have agreed that there should be three informal meetings amongst officials over the coming months with a view to preparing the way to launch more formal negotiations.
Forum Ministers agreed that efforts should be made to enhance the effectiveness of the Regional Trade Facilitation Programme through improving accountability and reporting on outcomes.
Agreement was also reached on maintaining the Forum office at the World Trade Organisation, and recognition of the benefits this offers all Forum members.
These are important steps forward and illustrate the efforts New Zealand is making to build the right foundation for trade in the Pacific.
Trade will help Pacific nations achieve development goals, but it needs to happen in the right way.
Our Pacific Development Strategy recognises this, and our efforts will centre on helping Pacific partners create an environment that supports sustainable economic growth.
The third pillar – improving health and education – builds on the traditional strengths of New Zealand’s development assistance.
We will focus on improving the quality of basic education and will continue to support initiatives which enable more children to have the opportunity to learn.
There also needs to be increased support for young people once they’ve left the classroom, including scholarships and formal training that improves employment opportunities.
While life expectancies have increased across the region, infectious diseases like malaria and tuberculosis remain.
Many babies and children are still dying of illnesses which are successfully treated and managed in developed countries.
Through the Pacific Strategy, New Zealand will work to help governments build health systems that deliver quality care.
The final pillar of the strategy is about helping the communities of the Pacific become more resilient to change, and better able to manage resources and conflict.
Climate change is likely to exacerbate a number of existing challenges in the Pacific region, such as vulnerability to cyclones, and limited access to fresh water.
We will help to improve the capacity of governments and communities to sustainably manage their water resources, and to cope with natural disasters.
We are not doing this on our own. Last weekend the US Secretary of State, Dr Condoleezza Rice, visited Samoa at my invitation, to meet with Pacific Foreign Ministers.
Discussions during the meeting focused on rising energy and food costs, and the threat of climate change.
Many Pacific nations see renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and even wave and tidal energy generation as the way of the future, and they are eager to embrace it.
However they freely admit that as small island economies, they lack the expertise to assess the best options, the cost, and the true value of such technology.
Dr Rice heard those concerns, and offered to raise them with the Department of Energy, with a view to the United States providing some expert advice.
It is that sort of response that made the meeting in Samoa so valuable, and showed that despite the vast distances of the wider Pacific, the region is truly one family, committed to working together on common development challenges.
The central focus of New Zealand’s aid and development efforts is poverty elimination – this means we focus on where the need is greatest and where the greatest numbers of people will benefit.
One of the ways to eliminate poverty is to provide people in need with job opportunities.
To do this, we need to improve the business-enabling environment in the Pacific.
This includes encouraging our partners to make the investment environment more secure, promote fair competition, enable firms to hire the people they need, and to get rid of inappropriate legislation.
This, linked with the other activities in our aid programmes, will in time open up more opportunities for the New Zealand private sector.
Environments in Pacific Island Countries will become more welcoming and profitable for businesses, whether New Zealand- or Pacific-based.
It is hoped that future closer economic ties between Pacific nations will enable Pacific-based businesses to find more opportunities in New Zealand also.
The Pacific Development Strategy also outlines the ways New Zealand intends to deliver its assistance.
The New Zealand private sector can be an important partner here.
NZAID, our international aid and development agency, has a strong and growing relationship with New Zealand-based consultants and companies doing business in developing countries.
More than one thousand contracts for services were let by NZAID in the last financial year – the great majority of these through New Zealand-based channels.
New Zealand expertise has a high reputation internationally.
Our companies are known for their transparency and honesty, and our people are known for combining their expertise with a practical "can-do" attitude to get the job done.
For these reasons New Zealand's private sector is a key avenue for effectively implementing NZAID’s programmes and projects now, and in the future.
We do not dictate where recipients of New Zealand’s aid must spend the funds – they are expected to find the most competitive supplier of the goods or services they want to purchase.
New Zealand companies however obviously have a competitive advantage through their proximity to the region, and have a good grasp of the realities of working in the Pacific.
Apart from contracts for service, NZAID has a number of regular direct links with New Zealand companies.
These are through targeted funding schemes, the Natural Hazards and Earthquake Cluster groups, links with Maori interests, Export NZ, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and of course your own organisation.
Through discussions with business, NZAID is exploring the establishment of a focussed reference-group as way of formalising dialogue.
NZAID is committed to strengthening these links and to ensuring our aid is as good as it can be.
What's important here is keeping open the lines of communication.
Regularly check the NZAID website, which contains up to date information regarding new developments and business opportunities.
Keep talking with NZAID and other donors about these opportunities and become familiar with their processes and mechanisms.
It will take effort on your part, but be worth it in the long run.
New Zealand is also committed to the cooperation and effectiveness principles which underpin international efforts around untying aid.
Sometimes this phrase ‘untying aid’ is taken to mean that we are taking opportunities away from the New Zealand private sector.
This is not the case.
Untying aid is about supporting developing countries to make purchasing decisions based on their own contexts, rather than being locked into taking goods and services which may be unsuitable from a donor nation.
It’s about working in an environment where supplier decisions are made based on effectiveness rather than nationality.
This is not intended to be a barrier for our own private sector.
In many cases New Zealand based expertise is exactly what is required.
Our commitment to competitive and open processes around our overseas development aid spend brings many benefits.
Including the fact that New Zealand companies now have access to opportunities under the aid programmes of other nations.
It is not just NZAID that funds work in the Pacific region.
AusAID, Asian Development Bank, World Bank, and other development agencies, provide opportunities for New Zealand business.
You need to know where to look and be prepared to do a bit of homework to meet their different requirements.
As an example, a New Zealand company has recently tendered successfully for a large infrastructure contract in Vanuatu funded by the United States.
Our commitment to untie our aid is consistent with the fact that all of New Zealand's development work is guided by aid effectiveness principles.
This means we align ourselves with the priorities of partner governments, we co-ordinate with other donors and we seek to do fewer, larger, longer-term programmes.
And we focus on results.
Finally, it is important to emphasise that aid from New Zealand is only part of the answer.
There needs to be a concentrated effort by all the governments of the Pacific to lift their performance.
Budgets need to be managed responsibly and transparently. There is little sense in aid donors paying for vital services like health, education and infrastructure, if national revenues are being wasted.
Your businesses have a role to play in being able to offer these services to help improve the lives and opportunities of our closest neighbours.
What is good for the Pacific is good for New Zealand, and through increased communication, and hard work, it can also be good for business.
Thank you
Page Last Reviewed: 05 August, 2008