Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed global technology giant Amazon will invest $7.5 billion in New Zealand.
Amazon Web Services, the corporation’s cloud computing arm, will establish data centres in New Zealand, a move Luxon described as unprecedented.
Amazon Web Services is a subsidiary of Amazon that provides on-demand cloud computing platforms and APIs to individuals, companies, and governments, on a metered, pay-as-you-go basis.
“That’s probably the largest ever, certainly publicly announced technology investment I would imagine in New Zealand, by an international tech firm” he told Mike Hosking.
The development is expected to create around 1000 jobs and add $11 billion to the country’s GDP.
The announcement came a day after the government said foreigners with an investor residence visa would be able to purchase a home, in what Luxon described as a practical step to attract big investors already spending heavily in New Zealand.
“If you’re going to come here and invest $5 to $10 million of your own hard-earned money, you don’t want to be renting a property; if you want to buy one, we’re going to let you do that,” he said.
Luxon pointed to the example of a businessman who divides his time between New York and California, saying he had already invested far more than $10 million in New Zealand and was now looking to settle permanently.
“So that’s exactly what you want because once you get here, and as you’ve been saying, once you can buy a house, well, actually that means you get into the ecosystem, you sort of understand how it all works down here, you see other investment opportunities, and it’s not just that first $5 to $10 million that you’re spending, it’s actually what comes after all of that,” he said.
The Prime Minister added that local communities, including companies such as Seaflux and Cleanly, would benefit from the economic flow-on effects.
He rejected criticism that the move to open the property market to investor visa holders was rushed to appease political concerns, insisting the decision followed lengthy discussions with coalition partner Winston Peters.
