Faster overseas investment decisions aim to unlock growth and higher wages

For years, New Zealand quietly watched investment opportunities drift elsewhere. Deals took too long, approvals moved too slowly and capital that could have powered new jobs and higher wages simply chose another country. That is the backdrop against which the Overseas Investment (National Interest Test and Other Matters) Amendment Act has now arrived.

Associate Finance Minister David Seymour is clear about the shift. The new law is designed to turn New Zealand from a cautious bystander into an active participant in global investment flows. Under the reform, most overseas investment decisions must now be made within 15 working days, a dramatic change from the previous 70-day statutory timeframe.

With a simple logic in mind. Faster decisions mean businesses can move, expand, hire and invest with confidence. Slower systems, as Seymour argues, have come at a real cost. New Zealand’s foreign investment regime has long been among the most restrictive in the OECD, contributing to lost opportunities, weak productivity growth and wages that struggled to keep pace.

The numbers tell the story. Between 2013 and 2023, New Zealand’s capital-to-labour ratio grew by just 0.7 per cent a year, compared with 2.2 per cent in the decade before. Productivity growth fell sharply too, from an annual average of 1.4 per cent over two decades to just 0.2 per cent in the last ten years. Workers, quite simply, have not had enough capital behind them.

International investment, the Government argues, helps close that gap. It brings not only funding but technology, expertise and global connections that allow local firms to lift productivity and pay higher wages. That is why the new law narrows intensive screening to genuinely sensitive assets.

Farmland, fishing quota and residential land will continue to face existing controls. Everything else moves to a modified national interest test, replacing the previous benefit-to-New-Zealand and investor tests. The regulator can now triage low-risk transactions quickly, while retaining strong powers to impose conditions or block deals where genuine national interest concerns arise.

The reform also builds on operational changes already under way. Last year, Seymour instructed the Overseas Investment Office to significantly accelerate consent processing. Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) responded by adopting a risk-based approach that recognises most applications are low-risk. The results are tangible. In the year to 30 November, nearly 82.6 per cent of consents were processed in half the statutory timeframe. Average processing times fell from 71 working days to just 28, making decisions around 60 per cent faster than in the previous financial year.

Alongside investment reform sits a targeted immigration adjustment. Overseas-based investors holding a New Zealand investor resident visa will now be allowed to buy or build a home, provided it is valued at $5 million or more. This applies to less than one per cent of the country’s housing stock and is intended to encourage deeper, long-term engagement with local communities.

Immigration Minister Erica Stanford frames the change as part of a broader strategy. Investors who commit at least $5 million, meet health and character requirements and help grow the economy are being actively welcomed. The Active Investor Plus visa, she says, is not just about money. It is about bringing skills, experience and international networks that support future economic development.

Taken together, the reforms signal a clear shift in posture. New Zealand is keeping strong safeguards where they matter most, while removing unnecessary friction elsewhere. Faster decisions, smarter screening and a clearer welcome for serious investors all point to the same message: the country is open for business and determined to convert investment into jobs, productivity and growth.