Business New Zealand said it has not surveyed the manufacturing and services industries in February because of the Christchurch earthquake but it believes many manufacturers in the battered city have quickly picked themselves up.
Business New Zealand said it has not surveyed the manufacturing and services industries in February because of the Christchurch earthquake but it believes many manufacturers in the battered city have quickly picked themselves up.
Manufacturing firms within the Christchurch central business district (CBD) have structural concerns about their premises or simply have not been able to enter them since the magnitude 6.3 earthquake on February 22.
"However, most large manufacturers are located outside the CBD and have been relatively unaffected, getting back into production within days of the earthquake," Business New Zealand said.
Christchurch manufacturing makes up around 13 percent of Canterbury's total gross domestic product and employs around 15 percent of the region's employees.
Phone call surveys indicated that larger manufacturing employers were either 100 percent operational, or in the case of those hit by the earthquake, many were up to 70 percent operational this week.
In the service sector, ICT-based businesses had been faster to return to normal operations, while tourism, retail and education businesses were likely to be harder hit.
"The best thing that the rest of New Zealand and international customers can do is to keep doing business with Christchurch. The majority of Christchurch's larger manufacturers and exporters are open for business," Business New Zealand said.
