News of an urgent meeting being called to address declining listings on the New Zealand Stock Exchange is not unexpected. The deteriorating position has been long in the making and is indicative of growing foreign buy-up of listed companies.

The inevitable decline to the a stage where a local bourse is no longer viable, while unpalatable in most people’s mind, may be inevitable in the absence of unlikely Government intervention.

Such a development provides further evidence of a hollowing out of our economy and increasing dependence on our nearest neighbour with strategic decisions being taken in Melbourne or Sydney. This will lead for further integration with Australia as a preferable option to becoming beholden to more remote owners with less appreciation of our business culture.

If the NZX were to fall pray to amalgamation as a better term for take-over it will give greater impetus to the establishment of an alternative capital raising and trading facility in support of SME development to take fill the void.

It lends greater weight to keeping our entrepreneurial innovative growth companies based in New Zealand with support and incentives to resist foreign acquisition and relocation to low wage and business friendlier countries.

Realisation that size is not all that matters and as globalization of industry meets with increasing public resistance will eventually reverse the process of corporate alienation.

This will result in greater retention of companies which, while establishing beachheads in overseas markets, will continue to call New Zealand home.