INSIGHTS INTO NEW ZEALAND’S SUCCESS AS A NATION
FRANCIS PAUWELS (Director and Founder of Karu New Zealand) IN CONVERSATION WITH TERRY STEVENS on 11th September 2020.
Francis began by explaining the philosophy and approach of Karu New Zealand and explained that Karu is a privately-owned company that specialises in facilitating economic development projects and strategic investment in regional New Zealand. The word ‘Karu’ is Maori for eye and seeing. We tend to look for opportunities where others can’t see them or are unsure where and how to uncover them. Karu also brings family associations – a reminder that everything we do impacts upon future generations. This alone ensures a high degree of values, ethics and responsibility to all our projects.
He then discussed the importance of the regional focus which reflects the critical need for both investment and vision to capitalise on growth opportunities. It is the regions that drive most of NZ’s export and visitor sector economy. Accordingly, Karu’s senior executives and Francis, its founder, have invested in building networks and researching successful international business models that are aligned with the opportunities now apparent in regional New Zealand. Buoyed by immigration from returning Kiwis, more sophisticated consumer trends and investor demand for projects characterized by scalability and sustainability Karu has established itself over time. Few other agencies or businesses have the experience or regional track record to leverage such a range of opportunities.
Francis then described the two key strands to the business.
1. Karu works alongside entities tasked with identifying sustainable and commercially viable projects characterized by growth potential and local business / investor appetite including local iwi (Maori tribes). In this role Karu brings expertise in developing strategy, building partnerships, accessing specialist global networks and attracting investment funds.
2. Karu operates on a more advanced and specialist level identifying and developing the business case for opportunities conversant with trends that are yet to fully manifest themselves in the New Zealand marketplace. “Leveraging global trends through kiwi ingenuity and adaptation works well when realizing return on investment principles. Karu believes this is the pathway for those with vision to build both wealth and contribute to broader social enterprise and regional goals.
Karu has systematically embedded expertise that stems from decades of hands-on management and development of successful business operations across horticulture, export manufacturing, tourism, wood processing, technology commercialisation and urban growth planning.
Given the rigour of such a dynamic marketplace, innovation and capacity building has been central to the success of the projects that have come under review. Accordingly Karu highlights to all stakeholders that it is less concerned with refining or perfecting the past preferring to leverage new consumer patterns and expectations that promise sustainable wealth generation on a 3-5 year horizon with returns that reflect both risk and first mover advantage. It is the practical and hands on business acumen coupled with a determination to see beyond immediate limitations that sets Karu New Zealand apart from other organisations seeking investment partners.
Karu’s commitment to deliver regional growth through economic development is built on understanding the unique attributes of a region that ensure comparative advantage. The attributes may be as critical as iwi relationships with access to a reliable work force or resources and materials to develop land and create new facilities and services. Wealth generation is only however a small part of the exciting challenge of turning a business opportunity into a reality.
The ‘coalition of the willing’ is a well-used term that epitomises Karu’s approach to business relationships, commercial negotiations and investment partners. “You must be aligned with the values and vision of those you do business with. It’s not just about finding an income stream or equity position – it’s about ensuring they, the people you bring alongside, actually understand the opportunity, share the vision and values and, more importantly how it all works in reality.”
On this basis Karu is a strong advocate of the front-end loading / fast fail approach to project management. Front end loading, typically applied to capital intensive engineering projects, requires robust information gathering early in a project’s life cycle so that a decision can be made more efficiently to either terminate (fast fail) or continue prior to major costs being incurred.
We then went on to discuss the bigger picture of New Zealand’s successful development of its economy, the handling of the current COVID pandemic and Francis’ views on how a small country of less than 5m people and distanced from larger centres of economic activity is ‘punching above its weight’ and delivering world class on so many different dimensions from sport (rugby and yachting), health care, life sciences, horticulture, aviation, space rockets and reputational management. He points to a fundamental shift in the New Zealand psyche that occurred about 25 years ago driven by self-realisation and actualisation that there was a collective responsibility to achieving a sustainable future.
Possibly the most important realization was the NZ’ers were fully capable of competing and footing it on the global stage while maintaining high degrees of humility, values and deep confidence built on genuine national pride.
His response about the critical success factors behind this shift is illuminating, insightful and represents a systematic checklist that any small country should adopt. In his opinion, they are the fundamental building blocks that have worked for New Zealand – other small countries take note!! They are, in no particular order:
· Doing the basics right for the community, the environment and the economy supported by strong leadership across levels of business, politics, society and cultures
· Applying the rules of common decency, respect, ethics and equality across all sectors of the community
· Unlocking and optimising the country’s strategic assets (including the climate, the landscape, the sea / water space, the people, the timber, the geo-thermals) and combining them with understanding of what the people of New Zealand are good at
· A willingness to re-think, re-purpose and re-invent how assets are used
· Supporting this with investment in R&D, innovation, the creatives, in the regions and in ‘the doers’ = instilling a kind of DIY attitude (and do what you can do well)
· Excelling at something (e.g.sport, arts, inventions, political stage) to give international profile, respect and commanding national pride
· International outlook and connectivity (national airline) with good internal physical and digital connectivity
· Creating strong brands with international export networks and the leveraging of a NZ diaspora together with a program to support the re-patriation of highly talented NZ diaspora
· Being modest but confident, patriotic without being nationalistic
· Teaming up in a collaborative, collective and shared journey of doing things better together
· Allowing private sector commercial knowledge to infiltrate and influence public sector policy and actions linked to giving support to individuals capable of transforming a sector of the economy – such as the work of the hugely impressive and visionary Tony Marks in elevating NZ’s kiwi fruit industry.
Thanks to Francis for this inspiring reflection on his home country of New Zealand.
