Report urges education spend
Foreign companies may shift research work and management teams to New Zealand to take advantage of the country’s ‘‘hopefully Covid-free status’’, Sir Peter Gluckman says.
However, Gluckman, a former chief science adviser to the prime minister, said the country might need to invest more in higher education to make the most of the opportunity provided by its reputation, standing and ‘‘wellconnected and safe environment’’.
Gluckman and other members of a University of Auckland think tank, the Centre for Informed Futures, said in a report that New Zealanders needed to think about the impact of Covid-19 on the country’s place in the world.
There were many opportunities available, they said.
But co-author John Allen, a former chief executive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said there were also risks. New Zealand would have little ability to influence the ‘‘shifting world order’’.
Allen said New Zealand needed to re-energise its relationship with its top trading partner, China.
New Zealand should also use less-traditional vehicles for relationship building, such as science and culture, he said. ‘‘We do not have to choose between the major powers and we should not do so.’’
The report said geopolitics appeared to be at an inflection point, ‘‘moving to a multipolar or even a leaderless world’’.
‘‘In the eyes of many, the US is no longer a reliable leader, and many consequences might flow from this,’’ it said. ‘‘The Covid-19 outbreak may be a catalyst for further regression into a nationalist and protectionist mindset.’’
It would be ‘‘naive to expect a rapid reversal of these trends’’ even if there was a change in administration after the US election in November, the report said.
To date, the most-trumpeted investment New Zealand has attracted since the coronavirus outbreak has been from Microsoft.
Earlier this month, it became the first of the big three cloud service providers – which also include Amazon and Google – to announce it would establish a data centre in
New Zealand, at an expected cost of more than $100 million. Microsoft president Brad Smith said he had spent some time in New Zealand last year and met with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
But the University of Auckland report said New Zealand might need to make significant structural changes to attract foreign direct investment.
‘‘We would need to invest much more significantly in research and development and in ensuring the quality of our higher education resulted in a workforce that would act as an attractor.’’