FintechNZ has claimed that financial technology could be vital in solving New Zealand’s problems this year.
James Brown, general manager at FintechNZ, said applying fintech to the country’s fundamental issues such as climate change and digital literacy could help the country make this a “decade to remember before time runs out.”
“We should do some research into how fintech can help the New Zealand economy for the benefit of all New Zealanders. When companies are looking to scale up they generally need to go offshore to find investment and sometimes they don’t come back so we lose them to other markets,” Brown said, as reported by IT Brief.
“Across our three super funds we only invest 9% in the New Zealand market. Let’s increase that to 10% and give the 1% to the tech sector, which will resolve all our funding problems. This will also tackle climate change by investing in more sustainable technology which is less harmful for the environment.”
Brown noted that the beginning of the new decade brings much uncertainty.
“During the last decade we have seen investment in technology around the world, some countries and cities do this very well,” he said. “However, when you look at the figures from the OECD, New Zealand is lagging behind and I wonder if this has an impact on the way we think about tech, especially fintech.
“When you look at our productivity levels, they are lower than other OECD countries, with the introduction of meatless meat and unemployment around 4.2%, how do we expect to create an increase in productivity? In years gone by, our geographical location was a barrier. Today, with low barriers to entry and time zone, we actually can use this to our advantage.”
