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MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

There's been a lot of misguided talk in the media recently about NZ manufacturing being "in crisis".

In order to bring some balance and facts into the bigger picture, I recently had an opinion editorial published in the NZ Herald. The face of Kiwi manufacturing is changing. While there are job losses in some areas, there is significant growth in others. Read the article here.

Since last month's update I have been to the meeting of the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils in Dubai. It focussed on the competitiveness of manufacturing companies, their key attributes and what sort of regulatory environments help them improve their competitiveness. Read my report here.

Have a safe and happy holiday season. I look forward to working with you to make 2013 a fantastic year for Kiwi manufacturing.

Catherine Beard
027 463 3212 or cbeard@businessnz.org.nz

What to do about lack of NZ engineers

Stephen Joyce is considering forcing Auckland University to take more engineering students in order to address New Zealand's skills crisis in fields such as science, engineering and computing. However, Auckland University says this could cause other problems - as outlined in a NZ Herald article recently. More...

Shortage of skilled engioneers not just a NZ issue

While I was in the UK recently, it was obvious that we are not the only country with an engineering skills shortage. Britain’s top companies are failing to recruit enough skilled engineers because of a dire shortage of highly-trained graduates.

In this article in The Telegraph, Sir James Dyson warned that his own company had “struggled to fill” 200 vacancies this year. Up to 217,000 engineers will be needed within the next five years to plug gaps in the workforce and help drive the economy. More...

Government rules of sourcing: further consultation sought

Over 120 submissions were received on the draft new Rules, and now it's time for round two. (The name has changed from ‘Rules of Government Procurement’ to ‘Government Rules of Sourcing’.)

The Ministry is inviting further feedback on the draft Rules. This is a valuable opportunity to make government sourcing rules as business-friendly as possible. More...

Final performance for the year

New Zealand’s manufacturing sector continues to meander along in a tight band as we head towards the end of 2012, according to the latest BNZ - BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI). More...

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