We had
the good fortune and privilege to speak with Consulate-General, Jim Howell
of New Zealand along with New Zealand’s Director to their North American
Investment Promotion Unit, Mr. Kelly Beeman, about migrating to New Zealand.
They
shed a great deal of light on the subject of immigration as well as on
New Zealand’s investment potential.
Q What is New
Zealand’s position regarding the establishment of a Free Trade Zones?
A. A Free Trade
Zone implies a level of government support and protection.
New Zealand’s
policy is that the whole country is a Free Trade Zone. We are close
to a zero tariff country now and the government is committed to arriving
at a zero tariff within a few years.
If you have
a Free Trade Zone and it’s tax-free, then in our view it is government
subidized. Somebody has to pay for it.
Q
What is the corporate tax rate?
A. Same
as the individual tax rate; 33 percent and within our program of total
tax reduction that rate is scheduled to be reduced.
Q. We appreciate
New Zealand’s need to maintain a highly selective standard on the issue
of immigration. While New Zealand is about the same size as Japan or Great
Britain, New Zealand none-the-less is not enormously large and obviously
must consider long-range consequences in its immigration policy.
That said,
talk to us a bit about your policy.
A. We
are admittedly selective. Our selectivity is not founded on race, religion
or such matters, but on issues that as you state consider the impact of
immigration on New Zealand as a whole.
We targeted
twenty-eight thousand for immigration last year; whereas in actual fact
the number of immigrants last year was exactly double that; somewhere between
fifty-six and fifty-eight thousand.
We are learning
as we go along; we are not merely looking for those who are rich and can
invest a fortune into New Zealand so much as we are looking for capable
individuals who want to better themselves and who can fit into New Zealand.
Q. If you could
talk to Americans right this moment, what would you say to them?
Who would you be inviting and what would you be advising them?
A. Obviously,
those who want to invest their time, money and energy into a viable future
and have the capacity to do so. It would be difficult to deny that
Americans as a whole fit in easier than just about anyone else who comes
to New Zealand.
They have less
trouble fitting into the community. Most New Zealander’s have an
easy time relating to Americans even though you tend to drive on the wrong
side of the road.
If you were
to ask me, how would the New Zealand government react to the book you are
writing, Mr. Gallo; our reaction would have to be: why not? If
you want a go at a country that is low on crime and long on quality of
life, New Zealand is the place to be.
