00:00With global competition intensifying, New Zealand is setting its sights on ASEAN, and
00:05Malaysia in particular, as it looks to deepen trade and investment links across the region.
00:11FMT spoke with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in Auckland to discuss his
00:16administration's plans.
00:18Interviewed by Ibrahim Sani, Luxon explained how his government is looking to attract more
00:23capital from Malaysian and regional investors, and how New Zealand hopes to strengthen business
00:28to business ties across ASEAN.
00:30You know, Malaysian investors have been very successful here in New Zealand.
00:33They understand the market.
00:34They've been coming here for a long time, and are hugely respected within New Zealand.
00:39And so we just want to turbocharge all of that and ultimately also encourage opportunities
00:44for New Zealand firms to make a contribution to, you know, building up the Malaysian economy
00:49as well.
00:50Luxon said his country is introducing major reforms to its overseas investment act to
00:54attract foreign investment.
00:57Could there be more overtures from the New Zealand government in trying to attract more
01:02companies?
01:03Not just from Malaysia, but of course from ASEAN.
01:04We have simplified our planning laws so that projects get done much faster by opening up
01:09something called Fast Track, which means a one-stop shop to get all your resource and building
01:13consents that you need to get projects away.
01:16And importantly, we've also got something called Investment Boost, which is essentially a
01:1920% tax write-off for any investments in plant, capital and equipment.
01:23And for a lot of our projects here in the country, that really does matter.
01:27The New Zealand Prime Minister said his government was also keen to attract skilled labour to
01:32its shores.
01:32workers.
01:33What about mobility of workers?
01:37Would that be a little bit more lax on top of the corporate incentives that has been
01:41presented by your government?
01:43When the rest of the world is tightening up some of its immigration settings, we're wanting
01:46to attract investment to the country and also obviously skilled people as well that can
01:51make a contribution.
01:52And so we'll continue to look at those settings and it's always important, as you know, in
01:56immigration to make sure that your immigration settings are tied to your infrastructure development
02:01and obviously to your economic strategy as well.
02:03Beyond investment, Luxembourg State New Zealand is broadening cooperation with ASEAN in high-growth
02:08sectors from renewable energy and halal food to space and technology.
02:13You were talking about the halal industry, perhaps a little bit more ideas coming from
02:19Mr. Prime Minister in terms of where are the industries that you're looking at in terms
02:22of deepening the depth of the industries.
02:25Well, probably people don't, they know us for agriculture, but they don't realise that
02:28we're also the third biggest launcher of rockets into space.
02:31You know, we have a fantastic, yeah, yeah, I mean, we have a fantastic rocket programme here
02:35and advanced aviation and space sector that's growing very, very quickly.
02:41And so, you know, that's been a key area of growth for us.
02:45Yeah, I know a lot of people think of us as the country that has a lot of, you know, a
02:48lot of sheep and a lot of cattle, but actually we're also a country that is doing a fantastic
02:52job in services and particularly in technology.
02:55With Luxembourg at the helm, Malaysia and the rest of ASEAN appear set to expand their partnership
03:00with New Zealand significantly.
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