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Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight - this is my third year to be celebrating these awards with you, and I am pleased to be here to represent the government's commitment to supporting achievement and excellence in a sector that has experienced considerable turbulence over the last 12 months. 
Ensuring New Zealand is an attractive place to invest and do business is a priority for this government and indeed has been a central focus for me in my time as Commerce Minister.  In recent years the government has undertaken a number of initiatives to help deepen our domestic capital markets thereby increasing the pool of investment capital available to emerging firms.  These range from technical changes to our international tax policy to the introduction of new rules to encourage retail investment in managed funds and include, of particular significance, the development and introduction of KiwiSaver, which last month made the half-million enrolment mark and continues to grow.

In years to come I believe that KiwiSaver will be seen as a watershed initiative that began the shift from our historic reliance on property-based investment to a much broader portfolio of investments.  With this shift will come the much needed higher levels of financial literacy that our country requires if we are to see a generation of savers take advantage of this broader range of investment opportunities.  Assisting this will be the new financial literacy aspects of the school curriculum, specific financial literacy campaigns such as those run by the Retirement Commissioner and the Securities Commission on risk & return; and the legislative framework that is being developed to ensure investors have credible benchmarks against which to measure their investments and some quality assurance around the financial advice they ought to be able to rely on. I am not understating the enormity of this task.  Lifting financial literacy from the very low base that we are starting from will take some time.  That is why I am continuing to focus my attention as Minister of Commerce on the regulatory infrastructure, to improve investor confidence, increase market participation, and strengthen our international profile as we align our laws with international best practice.  But in so doing it is important that we get the balance right.

I have said on several occasions now that the government cannot eliminate risk, because if we could and if we did, we would have no entrepreneurship, no investment, no innovation and no growth to ignite our transformational ambitions for New Zealand. 

Can I take the opportunity tonight presents, to thank those of you here who have contributed to the review of financial products and providers by providing feedback, submissions and advice.  Your input is invaluable.  We have three bills at select committee which in my view will go a long way to address the confidence issue that many investors have and I remain optimistic that they will be passed before the election.  I also acknowledge the support we have had from opposition and support parties alike.  It is great to work in a policy area that sees Parliament working towards a common goal.

Finally, I would like to pay tribute tonight to those who are being rewarded for their excellence. The INFINZ Industry Awards were established to recognise and acknowledge the work of leaders in their fields. I think it is important to reward success and to recognise the important contribution that is made by these leaders to the economic wellbeing of our nation.  Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to the NBR and all the sponsors for believing in and supporting this awards night.  These events don't happen without you.  Have a great night and thank you for again allowing me to share it with you.

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