Fostering sustainable economic growth and prosperity by attracting investment capital and facilitating investment deals is a core activity for PTI NZ.
One of the ways to help cultivate investment in the Blue Pacific is to ensure businesses are aware of what investors are looking for. This year, PTI NZ is holding a series of investment webinars on agriculture and renewable energy.
The first of these was held in May, targeting the agriculture sector, and took an in-depth look at ways in which the agricultural sector can be made more appealing to private investors.
A major provider of jobs, the agriculture sector addresses food security, empowers communities and improves livelihoods across the Blue Pacific continent.
The sector is vulnerable to adverse weather conditions, yet its produce is highly sought after in New Zealand. The Pacific region is the largest source of agriculture exports to New Zealand.
PTI NZ partnered with Ata Marie, a leader in technical and management services to the agri-business sector across the Asia-Pacific and African regions, to deliver the webinar.
Held in two-hour sessions over two days, internationally recognised industry experts Tony Wood and George Kuru from Ata Marie presented to attendees.
During the first day’s session, participants were informed about the global trends for funding agricultural projects. The most notable trend is the importance of Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG), along with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for investors. The Ata Marie presenters spoke about donor and private financing, adhering to the International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standards (IFC-PS) as the benchmark when looking at agricultural investments.
The session discussed various types of investment funds and the documents that are expected to be presented in alignment with the investment funds’ requirements. The final part of the first day focussed on the due diligence process, giving everyone an opportunity to understand in detail the key areas investors look at before making a final decision on whether to invest.
The second day’s session concentrated on ways to attract investment, and guided participants through the correct way to present proposals. Details were given on how to present ESG into core parts of documentation required by investors and the importance of them. Another key aspect shared with participants was the importance of voluntary standards following the IFC-PS standards. These standards not only impact the attractiveness for investors, but will also affect the number of customers willing to buy products from uncertified agricultural producers.
To wrap up, Ata Marie talked about the areas in agricultural businesses where investors are looking to deploy capital. Areas include the development of new crops, expansion, and new technologies, outlining current trends around high- and low-value crops. Ata Marie then discussed how projects can be improved by using appropriate technologies and management techniques, which provide traceability that leads to more efficient and profitable agricultural operations.
Feedback for the webinar is currently being collected and a follow-up webinar is already planned for July. This second part of the investment webinar series asks participants to present their agriculture opportunities to the webinar, where a panel will support them in gaining traction with investors and the typical process to move an opportunity forward.
For more information about the agriculture webinar series, please contact PTI Investment Consultant Graeme Saunders: graeme27saunders@gmail.com
The renewable energy webinar series is planned for later this year. For more information visit https://www.pacifictradeinvest.co.nz/investment-webinars/.
