Narrative Founder James Broadbent on NZ’s Covid-19 Response in Fast Company

In a Fast Company story, internationally renowned photographer and the CEO of Auckland-based Narrative, James Broadbent describes how New Zealand efficiently executed its pandemic response. He argues this same efficiency makes the country an equally desirable place to do business.

“I was born and raised in New Zealand. In 2018, I launched a New Zealand-based tech startup that provides ​software to photographers​ around the world. We’ve grown to employ talent from companies like Uber and Google, and recently launched a new AI product, which has continued to take root, even amid the emergence of COVID-19 and resultant global health and economic crisis. None of this is a coincidence,” Broadbent says.

“The swift response of our prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, in locking down borders and providing instant economic support to small businesses have been key contributors to the management of the pandemic.

“At the same time in the US, lives and businesses were tragically lost.

“New Zealand’s government has given their emotional and fiscal support to [reopening], breathing life back into our businesses with financial support via programmes established long before the crisis hit, communicating empathetically and definitively, and showing their commitment to our health as a nation – both physically and economically.”

Original article by James Broadbent, Fast Company, June 22, 2020.