17 December 2001 Media Release

Fast Forward for high growth NZ companies

New Zealand can have a company equivalent to Nokia, and this Labour Alliance Coalition Government is committed to making sure this can happen, says Economic Development Minister Jim Anderton,

Jim Anderton announced a new pilot programme today which will provide hands-on help for New Zealand businesses which are capable of growing and creating more jobs.

"Fast Forward will speed up business growth by helping companies to expand earlier," said Jim Anderton.

“It is clear that the Business Growth Service can be improved by providing additional expert advice to help companies plan for their long term development.

“We need larger companies employing more people and earning foreign exchange, in the same way that Finland, a country with five million people, has Nokia with over 60,000 employees,” said Jim Anderton.

Fast Forward will be piloted in three regions and will involve national criteria for identifying potential high growth companies, high quality expert advice, and a case management approach to assisting businesses which will include target setting and monitoring.

The programme has been developed with assistance from economic development agencies, local authorities and chambers of commerce.

If the pilots are successful the programme could be funded in the 2002 budget and offered nationwide.

“New Zealanders are the most innovative and enterprising people in the world. A recent survey ranked New Zealanders second in the world for entrepreneurial activity and anyone who says New Zealanders are not capable of creating world class companies needs to think again,” said Jim Anderton.

ENDS

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