Mayor Celebrates Tech Institute In Auckland: "Another Win" For City's Future Economy
Technology & Innovation was identified as one of three key growth sector opportunities for Auckland in the Auckland mayor's refreshed manifesto. Mayor Brown has been championing this move since May, when he announced his work in the sector under his new manifesto during the Innovation and Technology Forum.
The mayor also announced his establishment of new industry leadership under the Auckland Innovation and Technology Alliance at the forum. The Alliance brings together the public and private sectors to attract capital and boost productivity. It will provide strategic leadership, encourage coordination, and drive deal-making and investment to strengthen Auckland's position as a globally competitive tech and innovation hub. Last week, the Alliance Leadership Group was announced. The group brings together some of Auckland's most respected institutions across business, research, investment, and public innovation, led by the mayor. Its joined-up approach is a first for New Zealand in the industry.
Mayor Brown says he's pleased the government decided to establish the institute in Auckland, noting the move complements his newly established alliance. He says Auckland is where the funding, research, expertise, and most local government efforts already exist.
"They've scored some big brownie points with me today. It was the most sensible decision given all the ingredients for an ecosystem of innovation already exist here. All the work is already being done here; what was missing was the leadership, which I've now provided under the Alliance, and the commercialisation of ideas, which I believe the institute will now provide.'
He says the move is another win for Auckland, for his manifesto, and for Auckland's future economy.
This follows the government passing legislation to allow Chinese passport holders to more easily pass through Auckland, and the establishment of the Southern Link flight path between Southeast Asia and South America.
'It's worth noting here that when Auckland wins, New Zealand wins. The legislation to allow hoteliers to charge a bed levy is the next logical step. These are things that don't cost the government anything but open up Auckland's economy to some of the largest economies and populations this side of the globe.'
The mayor has also offered his leadership and overseas connections to boost city-to-city deals for the industry.
'As former Chief Science Advisor Sir Peter Gluckman says, world trade is now more city to city than country to country, and I know many of the big city leaders in China, India, and Brazil. I get to see leaders that government ministers can't.
'I'm focused on strengthening our international connections and building on my relations further with city leaders. Auckland must be open for business so our kids don't have to leave New Zealand to take advantage of growth elsewhere.'
Notes:
Related mayoral releases may be found here:
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RNZ News
19 hours ago
- RNZ News
Construction firms offering large discounts to avoid collapse
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NZ Herald
a day ago
- NZ Herald
Agribusiness and Trade: Kiwi businesses optimistic about China market growth
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NZ Herald
a day ago
- NZ Herald
Agribusiness and Trade: NZ visit wowed China with culture and products
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'Get granular with your local market and go deep. There's massive opportunity in the Tier 2 and 3 cities, with populations up to 10m, and premium products with the clean and green tag is still our strength. 'There's also the opportunity to be more joined up and show up stronger as the team from New Zealand.' The business delegation included Fonterra, Westland Milk Products, The a2 Milk Company, Alliance Group, Silver Fern Farms, Zespri, Goodman Fielder, Air New Zealand, Auckland and Christchurch International Airports, Indevin Group (wine), Sealord, Fiordland Lobster Company, Rockit Global (apples), Scales Corp, MitoQ and Beauty Lab Collective. There were also representatives from Meat Industry Association, Deer Industry NZ, New Zealand Māori Tourism. Ngai Tahu Holdings, Plant and Food Research, Te Pūkenga Institute of Skills and Technology, Victoria University and UP Education. Tackling headwinds on the Chinese journey At the China Business Summit, three of New Zealand's leading exporters provided insights into how they adapted their strategies to ensure continued growth and success in China — in the face of economic headwinds, geopolitical uncertainty and increased global competition. Richard Allen, Fonterra's president global ingredients: China has been a wonderful market for us over more than 40 years. When we started it was all about milk powders but over the last few decades consumption has shifted from 'drinking dairy' to eating 'dairy' with the likes of cheeses and proteins. Richard Allen, president, Global Ingredients for Fonterra Dairy nutrition has become very important. 'What's been awesome is the Healthy China 2030 plan which recommends an increase in the intake of dairy nutrition from 300 grams to 500 grams a day for adults. This has the potential of increasing dairy consumption by 700,000 tonnes by 2030. The focus on healthy ageing has led to the rise of proteins. We started with quality and more and more, there's been a shift to the attributes of how the product is farmed and produced. The recent launch of the New Zealand grass-fed standard provides an interesting opportunity for us — to add value and bring greater nutrition to Chinese consumers. We operate in 500 cities across Tier 1, 2 and 3 cities and see rapid expansion. The food service channel has been a phenomenal success, generating $4 billion revenue last year and doubling since 2017. An important focus is targeting dairy upgrades, from non-dairy creams and other alternatives, and talking about the nutritional, taste and functionality benefits of dairy. This has driven our growth. We have invested significantly in local innovation capability with six application centres and 50 chefs working closely with customers in the different regions, applying the best of New Zealand dairy to local tastes. The role of innovation has been critical in being able to move with the consumption trends. Jason Te Brake, Zespri chief executive: Zespri's purpose is to help people and communities thrive from the goodness of kiwifruit. We have the ambition of being the world's healthiest food brand. Every piece of kiwifruit is a healthy eating occasion. Jason Te Brake, Zespri chief executive. Last year we provided 1.5b healthy eating occasions in China. We will increase that by 200 million pieces of fruit this year, and look at doubling the business over 10 years. We have three building blocks to our strategy: 1. Maintaining strong chain supply partnerships and making sure our partners understand our fruit and our consumers. We also want to provide the best service to them. We have 100 staff in China but every day we have 1000 people working for Zespri supplying the natural nutrition to consumers. 2. Investing heavily in branding and making sure we differentiate our brand by focusing on nutrition. We want our customers to understand that proposition and to enjoy the goodness of kiwifruit every single day. 3. Help raise an awareness of malnutrition and be part of the Chinese social fabric. We have connected with 1000 schools and provided information about having fruit in a balanced diet. There may be talk about uncertainty and complexity, but we have a great deal of confidence about the opportunities ahead of us in China. Dan Boulton, Silver Fern Farms chief executive: Time on the ground in China is important and the Prime Minister's delegation was the third time I've been up there in a matter of months. People-to-people connections, knowing the consumer channels and where to show up, and understanding that China is 'markets within a market' — that's what Silver Fern is all about. Dan Boulton, chief executive, Silver Fern Farms. You have to go narrow and deep in China rather than wide. We have been in the market for 30 years and tipped over $1b in revenue a few years ago. That's 25-30% of Silver Fern's turnover. China is the best-paying market for many of the items that come from our animals. There's an opportunity for growth in quick-service restaurants and New Zealand product is at the heart of many of those menus. China is one of the largest protein consumers and red meat consumption is growing substantially. You have to be sophisticated and differentiate your product — the volume we put in for a year, South America does it in a week. Our grass-fed standard and telling our story is essential — red meat is a cluttered sector. We have developed strong partners — before we used to deal with traders — and we are getting greater transparency in pricing and margin. There's been a real shift in how we sell to the market. We have a market for 150m consumers who cure our meat and consider its physical sustainable attributes. We have increased foodservice and gone deeper in the Tier 2 and 3 cities. It is in the central, western and northern parts of China where for us the red meat is being consumed. We have displays of chilled beef three to four metres long, and we are getting the halo benefit by being involved with five high-end national retail chains.
