It is sad, if not unexpected; to see another highly skilled New Zealand manufacturer close the doors, with the announcement of Fitzroy Yachts in New Plymouth will close its super yacht building operation. The Stuff article about the closure identified demand, the aftermath of the GFC and the overvalued NZ dollar as contributing factors to the shut down.

Make no mistake our current policy settings lead to such closures and off the shoring of skill based manufacturing activities, as a result our economy must rely more and more on commodities processing less and adding less and less value. Our policy frame work ignores our currency value; an overvalued currency has a massive effect on any exporter or import competing manufacturer. This is not a path to future prosperity; our economy needs to become more diverse and focus on added value and innovation
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Our policies need to focus on manufacturers that at or near the threshold of failure, to understand what needs to change to improve the chances of success. Paying attention only to those firms who are doing well, while is great to see, does little to understand the support needed by those who are feeling hard times.

If we persist with a policy framework that overvalues our currency the ongoing loss of onshore skill based activity is inevitable, that is bad news for jobs and wages.
 

tags: fitzroy, manufacturing, closure, exports, offshoring, added value, skills, employment, policy framework