Open for business?

Bryce Wilkinson and I go through some of the proposed changes to New Zealand's Overseas Investment Regime over at Stuff.

Well, went through. The piece came out last week, but I'd missed that they'd put it up.

An opening snippet:

Sometimes, being at the front of the queue isn't a good thing.

If you lined countries up in a row, starting with the places least friendly to foreign investment, and ending with the places with the fewest restrictions, New Zealand would be near the front of the queue. In the OECD's 2018 survey, only Jordan, China, Malaysia, Russia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines were more restrictive – and most countries were far more liberal.

So it is a bit odd to hear Trade Minister David Parker talking this week about the need to tighten up New Zealand's foreign investment regime. The Overseas Investment Act and its implementation need reform, but substantial tightening is not what needs to happen. Are we trying to catch up with China or vault past Russia in these leagues?