New Zealand
Sweeping structural reform combined with a national change in attitude has dramatically altered the business environment in New Zealand. Yesterday, New Zealand was a tale of faded prosperity and lost promise; today, it receives praise from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Economist as a role model for economic reform. Protectionism, interventionism, and import substitution have been replaced by nearly complete economic freedom. As a key component of these reforms, liberalization of international and domestic trade is providing unprecedented opportunities and challenges for both multinational and local firms. Major current issues affecting business are explored, and policies on inbound foreign investment and immigration are examined.
Malaysia
Despite its rapid growth and other South-East Asian economies, very little is known about innovation in the region. Electronic goods and components, a large proportion of total exports, are mostly manufactured by large foreign transnational corporations (TNCs). According to conventional wisdom, innovation occurs in the developed countries, rather than in the TNCs’ subsidiaries. However, technological and organizational innovation at the local TNC plant level has played a major part in Malaysia’s export success. The firm-level data show that production-related innovations have been central to Malaysia’s export growth and that by demonstrating their innovative skills, local managers played a part in encouraging TNCs’ headquarters to expand operations and to transfer technology, that made European Union particularly UK which now relies heavily on TNC’s investments for its industrial future.