northland chamber

ADVOCATE COLUMN 1st WEEK FEBRUARY 2011
Northland’s 2010 Economic Profile (Infometrics Limited) makes interesting reading. Not for our poor economic performance when compared to other regions, but rather for the potential this report identifies. Surprisingly (to me) the largest contributor to regional GDP was not the agriculture, fishing and forestry sector as many would predict but rather the manufacturing sector which accounts for 16% of our GDP.

At a more detailed level it showed that tourism still makes a significant contribution (6%) to our GDP. The tourism sector generated $196 million in economic output in Northland in 2010. Over the last decade tourism in Northland has grown at just over 2% pa which is in line with the national average.

There was a decline in the overall number of business units but there is still growth (albeit slight) on average over the last decade. The number of business units is a key indicator of the preparedness of entrepreneurs to take risk and start new business. Any real change in our comparative performance against other regions will require a major shift in our business environment to stimulate entrepreneurial activity.

Primary industry is interesting because this is one area where Northland performs significantly above the national average. Accompanying this is the fact that Northland went against the national trend and grew value adding to primary production by 16.5%. This result along with the role manufacturing plays in our regional economy reinforces the need to concentrate on developing the potential of these sectors to stimulate our economy.

By themselves the sectors discussed above may lack the growth capacity to alone to significantly lift Northland’s economic performance. We need to find ways to grow export values and volumes in new areas such as IT, clean technology and energy or high-value food products.

As far as continuing to measure our success or otherwise by comparison with other regions, the Northland Chamber of Commerce thinks it may be worth considering having some absolute targets or a range of sustainable economic, social and environmental goals that when achieved the consequences would enable our economy to grow and the living standards for all of us to be improved.

Northland needs goals that all of us can relate to and become motivated and passionate to achieve. While there is both merit and room for aspiration, the goals we choose for Northland need to be realistic and achievable by a larger tier of business across a wider front.