New Zealand's  information and communication technologies industry (ICT) includes diverse areas such as health, IT, software, transport and logistics technologies, geospatial and communications technology, digital content, wireless infrastructure and payments. The ICT industry is known to make a contribution of around NZ$8 billion to NZ’s economy each year. The industry employs around 40,000 people.  The NZ ICT supply services survey estimated the value of total sales of ICT services and goods at NZ$18.2 billion. Of these total sales, 92% were sold in domestic markets while the rest were exported.

Investment in NZ ICT sector can enhance the value of your business. NZ ICT companies are well placed in the international market to meet ever increasing global demands for specialist applications. ICT industry in NZ has a strong foundation of delivering solutions that are highly commercially viable. NZ customer information system technologies have a 37 percent market share in all North American retail energy marketer installations. NZ ICT business entities stand out because they constantly innovate with their products to stay ahead in the market. NZ companies are known to deliver cost-effective results within a shorter period of time. NZ's demographics and location makes it an excellent environment for market testing, research and development. Many global companies have established themselves in NZ and are delivering commercial success to the industry. Some of the global companies that have marked their presence in NZ ICT sector are Singapore Technologies Electronics Limited, US-based GeoVector Corporation, Global internet company Allied Telesyn Group, US-based Symantec Corporation, and EDS.

These are only some of the international companies that are profiting by partnering with NZ.  There are various reasons why these companies have chosen NZ over other countries. The Telesyn group chose NZ for its global connectivity and vast pool of specialized skills. The company has managed to increase the employee strength from 50 to 200 within 3 years. Symantec has come to NZ due to the high quality of university graduates available for development centers. Moreover, flexible immigration policies allow companies to employ overseas recruits whenever specialized expertise is not available. GeoVector Corporation has found NZ more attractive due to a more relaxing regime that allows companies to mix technologies and disciplines to create innovative and bold solutions for markets. NZ demographics and its location provide many advantages to telecommunication industries. Since the NZ time zone is 12 hours ahead of GMT, it allows companies to test new technologies and applications during the USA and European night, thus minimizing disruption and speeding up the delivery process. The NZ telecommunication industry is dynamic in size and also in its advantageous position to present cost effective production for niche markets.

NZ has an excellent telecommunications infrastructure which includes all digital exchange networks, high capacity fiber optic communication links and the latest wireless technology. With a population of 40 million, NZ provides a  market for testing new technologies. In fact, Vodafone had used NZ as a test bed for testing the prominent GPRS network before introducing it world-wide.

NZ has a proven record of achieving high export figures in telecommunication and wireless hardware and services. Foreign investors can reap huge benefits by investing in this sector in NZ. Invest New Zealand can help foreign investors identify and facilitate investment opportunities in NZ depending on their specific needs.

FDI in NZ is an initiative to market New Zealand as an investment destination all over the globe, to provide a networking platform for NZ businesses at a global level. For more information visit: NZ Business Investment