Overview
Fast facts
International innovations
International collaborations
Industry contacts
Overview
New Zealand’s consultancy expertise has grown from the country’s strong background in research and innovation.
The national development agenda - particularly in areas such as agriculture, the public sector, natural hazards and disaster risk management - has seen New Zealand develop internationally relevant capabilities, and New Zealanders’ pragmatic approach to strategic reforms often gives them a competitive edge in the international arena.
Major restructure and reform movements such as those in New Zealand's education and public finance sectors in the 1980s invigorated a need for research and development as economic and system efficiency, as well as accountability and transparency, became increasingly important. As a result, many New Zealand reforms are evidence-based and therefore politically neutral.
Success in these areas has subsequently created offshore demand for New Zealand consultancy services.
Currently, the largest consultancy sector is engineering design, including project management, transportation asset management, and specialised fields such as seismic engineering, where New Zealand is a world leader.
Fast facts
- New Zealand’s consultancy sector exports are worth approximately NZ$600-700 million per annum, including work with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, both of which procure about $20 million in consulting services a year.
- Other funding agencies that provide useful channels to market include NZAid and AusAid (where New Zealand companies are also eligible to bid.)
- Two major clusters based in Wellington – the Natural Hazards and Earthquake Engineering Clusters (with over 40 members) – focus on work in Indonesia and participated in a major New Zealand-Indonesia conference on disaster management in August 2008.
International innovations
Here are some examples of innovative New Zealand companies who have created demand for their products and services overseas.
Opus International Consultants
Overseas, Opus International Consultants has 43 offices in Australia, Canada and the UK. The company specialises in the design of transportation asset management and development, building design and structural design, and the design of water-related services. It has worked on the provision of infrastructure for rail networks, roads and highways, and a number of marine, water and other projects for local authorities and developers in these countries. In 2006 the company was awarded the New Zealand Trade and Enterpries (NZTE) New Zealand Supreme Exporter of the Year Award.
Bruce Shallard and Associates
Bruce Shallard and consortium partners NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research), and Deloitte are surveying and analysing Oman’s fish stocks to help the country make decisions about future development based on sound scientific information. The New Zealanders are undertaking a fish and species count using a vessel provided by Independent Fisheries of Christchurch with sophisticated technology on board. NIWA will provide the fisheries research component and Deloitte the project management support to Bruce Shallard and Associates.
Earthquake Engineering New Zealand
A cluster of companies with expertise in earthquake engineering, seismology and related services, Earthquake Engineering New Zealand pulls together multi-disciplinary teams to work on projects around the world. Beca International Consultants assisted Turkish consulting engineers Prota in an earthquake risk assessment study for 200 apartments in Istanbul. It has also undertaken building code work in numerous markets including Nepal, Romania and Indonesia. Members of the Earthquake Engineering Cluster including Beca International and Holmes Consulting Group have also been involved in earthquake mitigation work in California.
PINZ
Polytechnic International New Zealand (PINZ) is a New Zealand-based social sector development agency with projects throughout the Pacific, Asia and the Middle East. PINZ specialises in education, human resource development and capacity building. The company has also delivered projects in finance and governance, health, government reform, monitoring and evaluation, and programme review and design. Its members/shareholders include many of New Zealand’s leading polytechnic institutes.
Airways International
Airways International specialises in controller training, project managing air traffic management system and associated infrastructure for civil aviation authorities, airports and air traffic control organisations in the Pacific, Asia and Middle East. Under the US Federal Aviation Authority’s Advanced Technologies and Oceanic Procedures (ATOP) programme, Airways is delivering controller training via Lockheed Martin. In China, Airways is implementing its aviation billing system for the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
Cognition Consulting
Cognition is an educational consultancy with close to 200 full time consultants working on a variety of national and international projects. Cognition’s focus is on the effectiveness of educational leaders and teachers and the achievement and well-being of youth through the process of successful educational reform. The reform process takes place at many levels – from the development of policy, the development of specialised expertise in specific areas of education, and the implementation of improvement within institutions.
International collaborations
Some New Zealand companies have teamed up with international partners to provide products and services.
Tourism Resource Consultants
Tourism Resource Consultants offers specialist consulting services in tourism planning, conservation and development. They have worked in over 30 countries and have collaborated with offshore companies and individuals to deliver community-based tourism solutions. Tourism Resource Consultants works throughout the Asia Pacific region and is opening an office in Hanoi, employing local expertise to advise on how to manage their tourism resources.
GNS Science
GNS Science is working with German research organisation GFZ Potsdam on joint projects including safeguarding society from natural disasters, sustaining economic growth without threatening the environment, and helping in the supply of raw materials and energy for a growing population. Working with the Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), GNS Science also leads a NZAID-funded project to build the capacity of Vietnamese scientists at the Institute of Geophysics to assess their seismic and tsunami risk across the country.
Natural Hazards New Zealand
Following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, AC Consulting and GNS Science collaborated on niche aid projects for NZAID in Indonesia, and have worked to develop a seismic monitoring network and early warning system in Vietnam. Landcare Research, Beca International Consultants and GNS Science collaborated to strengthen and upgrade emergency and risk management capacity in Tonga. After a 2006 earthquake, GNS Science and Environmental and Community Risk International Pty explored ways to support and enhance emergency management capabilities in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Industry contacts
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) is the New Zealand government’s economic development agency and works with the consultancy services industry to build up its capability and increase its international connections.
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