Business sets expectations for incoming government

Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce

Media Statement

Wednesday 2nd August 2017

Business sets expectations for incoming government

Setting strong expectations for an incoming government to support sustainable development, address the current skills gaps, reduce red tape compliance, and regionalise policy solutions are key planks of the Business Election Manifesto released today by the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce (NZCCI).

The Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce is one of 30 Chambers of Commerce that make up the NZCCI network. As part of their collective advocacy mandate, NZCCI commissioned a report in April to understand business needs across New Zealand ahead of the general election. More than 990 businesses across New Zealand were surveyed, and they identified the following expectations of the government post-election September 23:

· Be overtly supportive of sustainable business development.

· Recognise and support the link between strong businesses and strong communities.

· Address skill shortages through education reform, skills development and online support of targeted migration

· Reduce compliance costs across business in areas such as health and safety, resource management and taxes.

“The report and survey results are in line with expectation shared by the Hutt Valley business community,” says Mark Futter, Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive.

“Recent indications from our business confidence survey results that business are confident, pointing to a stable economic environment – but more can be done.

“We’ve got issues around our community’s resilience following on from last years’ earthquake, transport network challenges, and some exciting opportunities for infrastructure development. For this to happen local and central government must look for ways to work together.

“We recently held a meet the candidates’ debate, that saw candidates from across the political party spectrum address these important issues for our members. The Hutt Valley needs representation that is working hard and who will champion the voice of business in Parliament.”

Key recommendations in NZCCI’s manifesto to the incoming government include:

· Make a deliberate effort to ensure better collaboration across government platforms so that we can get better whole-of-government solutions and opportunities. Businesses want to see better collaboration and communication across government ministries, and further identified the need for central and local government to work much better together.

· Bring focus and strength to regional development. The need to regionalise economic development and policy was also high on businesses’ mind, believing that there is a need for government to respond on a regionally specific basis.

· Provide democratic comprehensive support for policy settings that will encourage and promote sustainable business growth. There was also a view that the incoming government should make further investment in quality infrastructure, with the goal to make it easier to do business.

Each Chamber of Commerce will be advocating on behalf of their chamber members locally ahead of the election.

ENDS

See attached document “NZCCI Election 2017 - A message for the incoming Government”
NZCCI_Election_2017__A_message_for_the_incoming_Government.pdf

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