Economic development Minister Trevor Mallard last year announced an about face in how Investment New Zealand will operate in the future. Investment NZ is a government agency currently involved in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) capital into the country. But a recent review of the organisation showed that it spent $60 million over four years to attract a net additional investment of only $155 million.

It is not clear from the review whether this result speaks more about the lack of “greenfields” opportunities than it does about any shortcomings in competency. However, it has been decided to refocus instead on encouraging New Zealand firms to grow through investing offshore. The theoretical net result should be more dividends returning home, exposure to new markets and networks, greater access to capital and acquisition of new technology. In principle it sounds like a great road map for adapting to a globalised world – create a few more Fonterras.

But shouldn’t we also still be facilitating new inwards investment – especially in the tech sector? Just because Investment NZ underperformed doesn’t mean we should stop engaging with offshore investors. It just means we need to find a better way to do it. And just because we are currently at about the OECD average for FDI doesn’t mean we can be complacent. Now you see what I mean when I discuss lack of economic leadership and the price of political expediency when it comes to government funded initiatives. It also underlines my point about the inappropriateness of having risk averse government agencies involved in facilitating business. Investment NZ needs to be tweaked for sure, but it doesn’t need to be completely nobbled.