Do We Have Sustainable Business Policies?

Darren Calder

Manager, Business Migration

NZAMI Annual Conference, August 2015

• What is sustainable? • Sustainable to who?• Entrepreneur Policy• Investor Policy • Summary View

The next 15 minutes…..

What is Sustainable?

sustainable1.able to be maintained at a certain rate or level."sustainable economic growth"2.able to be upheld or defended."sustainable definitions of good educational practice"

Ngram Viewer on the terms Immigration and Sustainable (source: Goolge.com)

• Sustainable is not a new term with regards to Immigration Policy• Employment must be ongoing and sustainable. - SM7.15 b• Your employment is sustainable if the employer is in a position to meet the terms and

conditions they specify in your employment offer. – Summary of terms• Creating sustainable and full-time employment for New Zealand citizens or residents –

BC4.15• “..capacity building, sustainable growth and innovation” – SMC Objectives (SM1)• “job offer is for genuine, sustainable and full time employment for the duration of the

period for which employment is offered” - WK2.1

• The Immigration System is complex

• Multiple stakeholders

What is Sustainable?

• The Perfect World for the Immigration System!

• Everyone in agreement

Sustainable to Who?

Industry

Applicant

INZ

Benefit to NZ

Industry

Applicant

INZ

Benefit to NZ

Sometimes it may feel a little one sided…..

• The reality of the Immigration System

• Tension and complexity exists everywhere

Sustainable to Who?

Benefit to NZ

INZ

FAMILIES

SOCIETY

POLITICAL

ADVISORS

BUSINESSES BANKS

COMMUNITIES

COSTSCULTURE

GOVERNMENTS

ENVIRONMENT

SOCIAL

HOUSING

WELFARELAWYERS

GROWTHREGIEONS

SECURITY

COURTS

PROTECTION

• Policy become effective 24 March 2014• 274 Applications have been received – now averaging 20/month• 139 Decided – 61 Approvals, 28 Withdrawals, 50 declines• Approval rate for the last 5 months - 53% • Approvals from Vietnam, USA, Switzerland, South Korea, Singapore,

Pakistan, Malaysia, Germany, Austria, Egypt, France, UK, HK & China (26)• 50% outside of Auckland• 2.5 FTE average employment creation• $350k average capital investment (4 Capital Waivers)• $372k average export potential• Industries covering IT, Exporting, Tourism, Agriculture, Construction,

Manufacturing, Importing• Regional announcement concerning additional points due in November

may create an easier pathway

Entrepreneur Work

Entrepreneur Work

Apr-14 May-14 Jun-14 Jul-14 Aug-14 Sep-14 Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14 Jan-15 Feb-15 Mar-15 Apr-15 May-15 Jun-15 Jul-150

5

10

15

20

25

30

EWV - Accepted

Entrepreneur Work Visa (Change of plan) Entrepreneur Work Visa (Interim)

• Relatively untouched since 2009• Has seen unprecedented growth over the last 2 years• As a July 2015, $3.5b of total investment funds via the policy• $1.6b transfer and invested• $775m approved for transfer• $1.1b under assessment • China is now the predominate source county (90%) of new applications,

but is this actually a problem?• Demand continues to outstrip supply

Investor Policy

• Policy capped at 300 approvals per year• Changes to selection criteria have not impacted demand

Investor Policy

2-Jul-1

3

2-Aug-1

3

2-Sep-13

2-Oct-

13

2-Nov-1

3

2-Dec-

13

2-Jan-14

2-Feb-14

2-Mar-

14

2-Apr-1

4

2-May

-14

2-Jun-14

2-Jul-1

4

2-Aug-1

4

2-Sep-14

2-Oct-

14

2-Nov-1

4

2-Dec-

14

2-Jan-15

2-Feb-15

2-Mar-

15

2-Apr-1

5

2-May

-15

2-Jun-15

0

10

20

30

40

50

60EOI - Volume In

• But requirements for selection have raised the bar in terms of requirements

• Does this lead to a higher quality applicant?

Investor Policy

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 1550

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

EOI Draw History – (Last 15)

Points LowPoints High

• Applicants in flight – (excludes already removed Section 49 conditions)

• Where should we focus?

Investor Policy

 

Res Application CriteriaTotal

Investor 1 Category Investor 2 Category

Res Application Number

Investment Funds Available

($)Res Application Number Investment Funds

Available ($)Res Application Number Investment Funds

Available ($)

Number of Applications

Sum Number of Applications Sum Number of Applications Sum

Rank Nationality

61 610,000,000 543 822,750,000 604 1,432,750,0001 China

2United States of America

27 270,000,000 41 70,250,000 68 340,250,000

3 Great Britain8 80,000,000 51 91,500,000 59 171,500,000

4 Japan10 100,000,000 16 24,000,000 26 124,000,000

5 Hong Kong5 50,000,000 13 21,500,000 18 71,500,000

6 Singapore3 30,000,000 21 34,000,000 24 64,000,000

7 Switzerland4 40,000,000 6 10,000,000 10 50,000,000

8 Malaysia1 10,000,000 25 39,750,000 26 49,750,000

9 South Korea3 30,000,000 10 15,000,000 13 45,000,000

10 Russia3 30,000,000 8 13,750,000 11 43,750,000

11 Canada3 30,000,000 7 11,000,000 10 41,000,000

• Growth has been steady at a sustainable rate

• Demand currently controlled by supply side levers

Investor Policy

2009-08

2009-10

2009-12

2010-02

2010-04

2010-06

2010-08

2010-10

2010-12

2011-02

2011-04

2011-06

2011-08

2011-10

2011-12

2012-02

2012-04

2012-06

2012-08

2012-10

2012-12

2013-02

2013-04

2013-06

2013-08

2013-10

2013-12

2014-02

2014-04

2014-06

2014-08

2014-10

2014-12

2015-02

2015-04

2015-06$0.0B

$0.5B

$1.0B

$1.5B

$2.0B

$2.5B

Total Investment by Month*

(*excludes already removed Section 49 conditions)

• Government recently announced migrant attraction strategy under the Business Growth Agenda (BGA)

• 3 Key focus areas – Foreign Direct Investment, Research & Development and Investor & Entrepreneur Migrants

• Investor Attraction Strategy seeks to lift current $3.5b to $7b over the next 3 years.

• This is not just about $$ through the Investor policies, but also includes investment made outside of immigration requirements.

• Currently “quality” is not defined, but selection criteria focuses on English, business experience, age and investment funds

• Our own research tells us that applicants choose NZ for lifestyle reasons ahead of investment objects, invest in passive investments but want to contribute more

Investor Policy

• The quality of applicants under EWV has improved given employment, capital and export potential nominated by current applicants

• Still to early to see any impacts of EWV policy moving to residence applications as visa is for 36 months

• Regional Investment due 1 November will be “a wait & see” to see if business quality is impacted. i.e. Less investment or an easier hurdle

• Investor demand continues to outstrip supply, but managed through supply side levers

• Focus given to lift investment levels will no doubt see changes to Investor & Entrepreneur policies or even the introduction of new polices.

• Changes could include a focus on active and regional investment, defining quality, lifting the threshold for acceptance (English, business experience, International connections, monetary)

• Sustainable is a relevant term based on your perspective, but overall I believe they are working well.

So do we have sustainable business policies?