Jobs and businesses will be saved as a direct result of changes made to immigration criteria, ExportNZ Executive Director Catherine Beard says.

The Government has announced provisions for people to be able to enter New Zealand to support the economic recovery effort.

“The border is a critical line of defence against Covid-19, and we should be laser-focused on managing the risks of peoples movements.

“The same urgency that the country has taken in the health response to saving lives now needs to go into saving livelihoods through the economic recovery phase.”

Ms Beard says the changes announced today will directly support businesses to have confidence that they can move forward with things like capital investment or being able to deliver products and services to international customers.

“This is a good move from Government in recognising the critical importance of being able to facilitate people through our border in a way that manages and mitigates risk, and it will have a real and significant impact on New Zealand’s economic recovery.”