The New Zealand Institute is calling for tax incentives to encourage more investment in businesses wanting to expand overseas.
The private think tank says the current lack of capital available to companies not only inhibits their expansion, but also the country's growth prospects through an export-led recovery.
Tax incentives to encourage more local investment is one of 14 recommendations made by the Insitutute.
Others include building up domestic talent, improving companies' access to information and establishing an innovation council.
The institute acknowledges that most of the recommendations will take years to take effect.
But chief executive Rick Boven says creating tax incentives would tackle the acute need for capital in the shorter term.
He says similar tax incentives have successfully driven exports and innovation in the UK, Singapore and South Korea.
Mr Boven says such changes will help the government to achieve it's goal of trying to catch up with Australia by 2025.
"It may not be achievable," he said, "but trying to achieve it will lead us in a very postive direction."
