World Bank urges Kiwis to think big

From page 1 ‘‘more right than wrong’’.

‘‘Because we have unique challenges you don’t want to copy-and-paste from the World Bank. You have to look at our unique issues.’’

New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) chief executive JeanPierre de Raad said the finding in the World Bank report is that big companies export because they are successful in a competitive global environment.

‘‘They are not big because they export; they export because they are successful,’’ he said.

‘‘SMEs are really important in New Zealand, and most economies actually, and we should not demonise them. They are responsible for a lot of job creation, as well as job destruction. There is an enormous amount of churn in enterprises and jobs as entrepreneurs give it a go to become the next success story. Some succeed and grow, others don’t.’’

De Raad said policy should make it more attractive for them to do business, and stay in New Zealand once they are successful.

‘‘It is for that reason that the best thing a government can do for business success is to make sure the business environment is conducive to entrepreneurs: a first-class investment, tax and regulatory environment.’’

He said small enterprises find it hard to achieve the economies of scale that allows them to compete. But New Zealand SMEs also face the special problem of a small domestic market and being far from other markets.

‘‘This makes it hard for businesses to grow and get