MASTER CLASS :impact of asset sales
wants and needs of small and medium businesses. Making up 97 percent of all New Zealand businesses and
employing close to one third of our workforce, SMEs are the backbone of New Zealand's economy. The SME wish list is pretty clear: access to capital, talent and clearing away some of the regulatory labyrinth, and for some, the cherry on the top would be help breaking into offshore markets. Satisfying that wish list so that SMEs can survive and thrive as the country's financial engine should be at the top of our national to do list. Seeing the link between SME priorities and selling a minority
IMPACT OF ASSET SALES
There is a striking absence of analysis on the impact of asset sales on business
THIS SEASON'S POLITICAL FOOTBALL match has just moved into extra time with the government's decision to delay the partial sale of Mighty River Power until March 2013. And, the field looks set to become boggier by the day with the compounding and game skewing challenges of Rio Tinto destabilising demand for 15 percent of our national electricity, and the entirely predictable claims by Iwi Māori to shares and other interests in the state owned enterprises (SoEs) set for sale. With most of the commentary focussing on the intricacies of daily
political manoeuvring and ideological point scoring, there is a striking absence of analysis on the impact of asset sales on business, particularly the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector. Perhaps that is because the partial sale policy has, at best, tangential relevance to the real world
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stake in our SoEs to reduce national debt and generate loose cash to invest in social infrastructure such as hospitals and schools takes a little creativity and patience. Encouraging 'mum and dad' investors to take up the SoE share offer could switch people on to the power of investment, growing our capital market and as we develop a culture of investors making capital more accessible for SMEs. Cultural change is however a slow process and it will only stick if
our wider economic settings support growth and optimism. Investing in schools could grow the talent pipeline, but newer bricks and mortar, as we know, aren't guarantors that the next generation will attain skills for the jobs of today or the jobs of tomorrow that haven't yet been created. As for regulatory complexity, the partial sale is unlikely to make SMEs challenges greater or less, but we can perhaps all feel some empathy for the cogs inside the SoE machines who will likely have to navigate even more regulation post-sale when the politicians inevitably bow to public pressure to create safeguards for the national interest.
Making up 97 percent of all New Zealand businesses and employing close to one third of our workforce, SMEs are the backbone of New Zealand's economy.
