global american technology alliances

1. Information Technology (excluding Telecommunications Services)

New Zealand is considered as one of the most "networked" countries in the world with 75% of all New Zealanders age 15+ having access to the Internet (ACNielsen). New Zealand businesses have been slower than companies in other developed countries to adopt and embrace e-business, mainly because some don't see it as being relevant to their business needs. But many feel that New Zealand corporations have a lot to gain from e-business as it will help New Zealand exporters overcome two main disadvantages in the world market: (a) the country's small population size and (b) its geographical remoteness. As a result, business-to-business commerce is forecast to rapidly expand with a significant demand for technology to accommodate the growth of e-business (over 95% of New Zealand's computer equipment is imported).

Millions of US dollars	2001	2002	2003
Total Market Size	2,947	3,280	3650
Total Local Production	425	575	710
Total Exports	334	450	606
Total Imports	2856	3155	3485
Total Imports from the U.S.	126	130	200

Source - Statistics NZ. Total Imports from the US are from June through May of following year, converted using average exchange rates from www.oanda.com. Total Local Production and Total Imports are unofficial estimates. Figures for 2003 are projections.

2. Biotechnology (BIO)

Over the last few years there has been an explosion of biotechnology in New Zealand. Politicians and policy makers have become increasingly interested in the role that biotech might play in the "new economy" and the government has made biotechnology one of three priority sectors for future development. The biotech industry has begun to achieve critical mass and had been increasingly effective in lobbying for policy changes that would make the New Zealand environment more supportive of biotech Research and Development innovation. The government has allocated approximately NZ$400 million for further research to Crown entities and Universities. The early stage of Research and Development up to the proof of concept is the area of most concentration. There are good opportunities for Joint Ventures and investment for American companies in this area.

Research organizations reported 214 products on the market. 750 new products are expected to come onto the market in the next five years. Animal Health Products constitute the largest category of N.Z. biotech products, 34%, and Pharmaceutical products constitute 26%. Other products on the market are industrial (11%), horticultural (6%), food additives and natural products (4%), nutraceuticals (4%), forestry (3%), non-food marine (1%), or other (10%). The `other' category includes cosmetics and biochemical intermediary compounds. Seventeen research organizations reported alliances with a total of 392 different organizations (47% of which are overseas), which suggests that the 17 research organizations have alliances with average of 23 partners each. There is a strong desire within the New Zealand biotech industry to partner with U.S. based companies, and the N.Z. government provides a favorable environment for such partnerships. Since modern biology technology has potential application across a broad spectrum of human activities, ranging from production of food to treatment of illness and the management of waste products, there is a substantial market of opportunity for U.S. companies.

Balanced against these opportunities are widespread concerns among the New Zealand public regarding the safety and benefits of biotechnology. A moratorium on the commercial release of genetically modified products is in effect until October 2003, and although the government has plans to lift the moratorium, considerable controversy exists within the country and the final outcome is uncertain.

	2001	2002	2003
Total Market Size (Est) (Millions of US dollars)	546	628	722
Total Exports (Millions of US dollars)	107	123	141
Number of Biotech Companies Conducting Research	50	58	70
Total Number of Employees	3,090	3,491	3,944

Source: BIOTENZ. Figures for 2003 are projections.

3. Telecommunications

New Zealand has the highest per-capita spending on information and communications technology in the world: approximately 14% of GDP is spent on I.T. & telecommunications. Industry growth has been driven by wireless technology - over 60% of New Zealanders currently have a mobile phone, compared with only 20% in 1998. However, less than 10% of households have broadband, so rollout of broadband technologies likely will become the future driver of telecommunications growth in N.Z: 90% of telecommunications revenue is forecast to be generated from broadband services by 2010. New Zealand spent $5.5 billion (US$2.9 billion) on telecommunications services in 2000/01 and US$281 million on telecommunications equipment in 2000. There are large projects underway to bring broadband to `the final mile,' through wireless technologies, particularly in rural areas. Telecommunications revenue growth in 2003 is forecasted to be 7.8%.

There are no restrictions on foreign ownership of domestic companies. Most telecommunications equipment can be imported duty-free.

Millions of US dollars	2001	2002	2003
Total Market Size	2,860	3,117	3,397
Total Local Production (Est)	286	312	340
Total Exports (Est)	217	237	259
Total Imports (Est)	2791	3042	3316
Total Imports from the U.S.	125	66	130

Source: Telecommunications Users Association New Zealand & Statistics NZ, Paul Budde Communication. Total Imports from the US are from June through May of following year, converted using average exchange rates from www.oanda.com. Figures for 2003 are projections.

Internet users	2,060,000
Internet Users Rank	39
Internet Users Date of Information	2002
Telephones - mobile cellular	2,200,000
Cell Phone Rank	34
Cell Phone Date of Information	2000
Telephones - main lines in use	1,920,000
Telephone Rank	57
Telephones Date of Information	2000
GDP - real growth rate(%)	4.4
Growth Rank	119
Growth Date of Information	2002 est.
GDP - per capita	$20,200
GDP/pc Rank	36
GDP/pc Date of Information	2002 est.
GDP	$78,800,000,000
GDP Rank	59
GDP Date of Information	2002 est.
Population	3,951,307
Pop Rank	122
Pop Date of Information	July 2003 est.

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This site was last updated 6 March, 2009

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