New Zealand is set to welcome an influx of tech entrepreneurs following the establishment of a new Global Impact Visa (GIV).
The GIVs will be offered over a four-year trial period in the hopes that an influx of Silicon Valley-types will help offset the increasingly struggling dairy industry and diversify the economy.
Approximately 400 of of these visas will be issued during this trial period.
Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse said the visas would “help expand the pool of smart capital by attracting individual investors and entrepreneurs to live here in New Zealand.”
“GIVs will help meet the government’s Business Growth Agenda innovation and investment objectives by lifting innovation in New Zealand,” he added.
Rod Drury, CEO of global accounting software company Xero, thought the GIVs alone were not enough, saying “because we’re such a small market and we’re the furthest country away from any other trading partner, then it’s so much more important for us.”
The Government’s announcement mirrors a similar call made by Australia in December that came as part of Malcolm Turnbull’s “ideas boom,” which seeks to boost innovation.