Many of us are acutely aware of the lack of common vision and shared goal for New Zealand’s future which is limiting our nation’s prosperity and our personal hopes for our children’s future. As much as we value our natural environment and the benefits of tourism, we do not want future defining us primarily as playground for wealthy and adventure tourists.
This year’s Top 200 Awards theme is Understanding the New World, following the premise that New Zealand is uniquely placed to emerge well from the paradigm shift accelerated by the global recession. We have significant natural and man-made advantages. We are small and can be nimble. We have temperate climate that sustains myriad of desirable animal and vegetable life, and relatively pollution-free air and waterways. We are isolated but developed and an ideal ‘test market’. We have relatively corruption-free political, economic and public sectors – note NZ Police winning the Most Reputable Government Department in last month’s NZ Management. And yet from all this we have been unable to develop sustainable competitive advantage and standard of living we all aspire to.
Kiwis are often hailed as clever entrepreneurs and ‘punching above our weight’ but too many clever Kiwis go overseas and stay there. We need clearly articulated vision of the future to unite behind and achievable goals to aspire to.
The cleantech opportunity (see cover story p26) is arguably the single greatest potential driver of economic transformation for New Zealand, and within relatively short timeframe – witness the strides Scandinavian countries have made inside 15 years. That’s saleable proposition even to election cycle-focused politicians. What we need is someone to articulate the vision.
Join New Zealand’s business leaders at the annual celebration of corporate and executive excellence; the Deloitte/Management magazine Top200 Awards, December 2 at SkyCity Auckland. Here you will learn more of vision for an enlightened and prosperous future for New Zealand.
For bookings go to www.management.co.nz/top200 or email [email protected].
Two new BEIA board members welcomed
Two new members have been welcomed to the Business Events Industry Aotearoa (BEIA) board following the organisation’s AGM. BEIA, which is the official membership-based association of New Zealand’s business events