ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Creating Security and Opportunity for New Zealanders

A regular newsletter from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Jim Anderton, Minister for Economic, Regional and Industry Development, summarising Government economic development activities.
19 February 2001 / Issue No1

This issue of Economic Development:
1 Jim Anderton, Deputy Prime Minister, says.
2 Business advice highly valuable
3 100th Enterprise Award
4 Changes to the Enterprise Award Scheme
5 Visiting the regions
6 Super-yachts jobs success
7 Wood Industry to be developed for our future
8 More regional Partnerships to be announced later this month
9 Design Culture important for NZ economy
10 BIZ research results
11 Economic Development contact details

Jim Anderton, Deputy Prime Minister, says

Welcome to the first of issue of a regular e-newsletter outlining the economic, industry and regional development activities of the Labour Alliance Coalition Government.

I want to let you know of key developments, successes and initiatives of the Coalition Government through the Ministry of Economic Development and Industry New Zealand, the Government's Jobs Machine.

Having been in business and public life for more years than I care to admit, I know the effect of unemployment on individuals, families and our communities. It is in all of our interests to get as many New Zealanders working as possible.

The more business people I meet and the longer I work in the area of economic development the more obvious it becomes that New Zealand's future lies in our own hands as New Zealanders. We can develop partnerships with overseas companies, attract international investment and use skills from other countries but only New Zealanders will make our own economy and society their top priority. Economic, industry and regional development encourages and fosters New Zealand business and creates opportunities for growth.

The key factor is partnerships. The Government through the Ministry of Economic Development and Industry New Zealand cannot on its own accomplish sustainable economic growth. Economic development and the business growth that goes with it must come from successful business enterprise, but the government must be there to support and help as needed. The government will, where appropriate enter partnerships with private sector businesses, as well as local and regional government, local and regional communities. For many years the government has been the missing partner in economic development in this country. We now stand in partnership with all New Zealanders.

I have been developing a 'whole-of-government' approach where I bring ministries and departments to the table to work together with business and community organisations. This worked in the East Coast of the North Island with the Tairawhiti Development Taskforce, and is now working in the Wanganui region and also for the wood processing industry. This approach will continue and will be applied to other industries and regions where appropriate.

If you have any comments there is an email address at the bottom of this newsletter. I trust you will find the information and news interesting and useful.

Jim Anderton MP
Minister for Economic, Industry and Regional Development

Summary of a month of economic development:
Business advice highly valuable
Jim Anderton recently inspected the first of three new locally made fire engines going from Lower Hutt to fight fires in South Australia. The successful company, Fraser Fire and Rescue, received some advice on contracts from Industry New Zealand, the Government's jobs machine.

"What was great about this company was that they had all the know-how and capital needed to make them very successful. What they lacked was specialist contract preparation experience. Industry New Zealand was able to provide the necessary advice and this has resulted in export orders from overseas.

“This is the sort of government policy that can do business the world of good” says Martin Simpson, General Manager of Fraser Fire and Rescue.

“The help and confidence they (Industry NZ) gave us was invaluable. This was an example of extremely good government input into business. We were very impressed with Industry NZ. The assistance and direction they gave us was fantastic,” Mr Simpson said.

Jobs machine gives 100th Enterprise Award
"Over 100 kiwi businesses and entrepreneurs are better off because of the Labour Alliance Coalition Government's jobs machine," said Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton announcing the 100th Enterprise Award recipient in Christchurch.
"I am also pleased to announce a further 39 Enterprise Award winners. Clearly there is a wealth of kiwi ingenuity out there that can create jobs and build our economy and this Government is recognising this," said Jim Anderton.

Other award winners include investigating making dog food from possums, a telescope manufacturer, a swim school franchise, and the development of an international documentary series.
In total, Industry New Zealand, the Government's jobs machine, has made Enterprise Awards Scheme grants to 111 businesses and entrepreneurs, totalling $627,074, to help get their great ideas up and running. More will be announced each month.

One winner from the last round of awards was the Worldwide Women's Network based in Wellington, which received $7,700, to begin work on a seven part international documentary for the International Year of Women in 2003. By the time they complete the project they expect to hire about 100 people and provide a springboard for other film projects.

Changes to the Enterprise Award Scheme
The successful Enterprise Awards Scheme has been improved after a review and consultation with businesses and business advisers. Priorities were to make more funding available and to recognise environmental standards and issues.

On 26 January Jim Anderton announced that the amount businesses can be awarded for any one year has doubled, increasing from $10,000 to $20,000.

Other improvements include:
Work on steps to meet environmental standards can now be funded.
A new category for eco-efficiency projects has been introduced.
Grants are now available for prototype material costs; international trade fair stand hire and the production of artwork and design.
To be eligible companies should have a turnover of less than or equal to $5 million a year or have fewer than 20 full time staff.
Grants are available to help firms do work needed for international quality certification, benchmarking and systems evaluation.

Details of the Enterprise Awards Scheme can be found at www.industrynz.govt.nz .

Visiting our regions
Visits to the Horowhenua, Northland and Eastern Bay of Plenty are planned for the Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton. Already there has been one visit this year; four days in the Chatham Islands in late January. Since taking on the portfolio of Minister for Economic Development, Regional and Industry Development Jim Anderton has made 25 regional visits as well as a large number of regional stopovers.

Each of these 25 visits has lasted from a full day to a week and involves talking to key groups on the priorities and issues from the regions. Much of the time spent involves talking with local authorities, businesses and community groups about the issues and aspirations in their area. The information gathered is then used to see how and where this Government can help regions to generate business and employment growth.

Super-yachts jobs success
A super-yacht development in West Auckland announced in late January will deliver up to four hundred new jobs within two years, and up to six hundred million dollars of new export earnings over five years. The development will showcase New Zealand as a world leader in the high-skill, high-value super-yacht industry.
Expat-kiwi Bill Lloyd is returning to New Zealand to expand his super-yacht building company, Sovereign Yachts. He is establishing a high-tech super-yacht facility on surplus land at Hobsonville Air Force Base.

"The Government established Industry New Zealand as its Jobs Machine to take a partnership approach to transforming the economy. Sovereign Yachts is an example of a successful partnership between Government, local authorities and business. We are developing job-rich new export industries based on the unique skill and creativity of New Zealanders," Jim Anderton said.
Trade New Zealand's Investment NZ was the first point of contact when Sovereign Yachts decided to explore the location of their manufacturing facility in New Zealand. Working alongside Trade New Zealand and with the support of the boating industry, the Ministry of Economic Development helped facilitate this exciting project.

"This investment wouldn't have happened without the Government's Jobs Machine. The Ministry of Economic Development worked in partnership with Waitakere City and with the Defence Force, taking a whole-of-government approach," Jim Anderton said.

Wood Industry to be developed for our future
First industry strategy - wood processing industry group
This Labour Alliance Government is committed to working in partnership with industry groups to develop our economy. A series of key industry groups will be brought together to develop ways to make our industries perform better. The first such industry meeting was held in January with 30 members of the forestry industry and associated government agencies.

The wood processing industry is one of the best opportunities for New Zealand's economic development, Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton said at the first meeting of the wood processing industry steering group on 25 January 2001. The next meeting will be held in March.

Jim Anderton said, "Every raw log shipped overseas is an economic failure. We have to turn those logs into processed products, including paper and finished wood products such as pre-built houses, furniture and manufacturing componentry.

"The Government is committed to working in partnership with the forest industry to remove the obstacles to further wood processing in New Zealand and this meeting today is one of the ways we are showing it."

Another industry steering group will be announced in the next few weeks.

More Regional Partnerships to be announced late February
On 15 December 2000 Jim Anderton announced funding for the first three regional partnerships with the Wanganui, Marlborough and Rotorua regions. The Regional Partnerships Programme supports regions working with Government to create sustainable jobs and businesses.
There were 137 expressions of interest which went to Industry New Zealand, and these are still being assessed with the regions by Industry New Zealand. The second round of partnerships will be announced later this month.

On the announcement of the first three regions Jim Anderton said, "The work that these first three regions have already done to build their local economies and form partnerships is excellent. It means that the Government can work immediately with the Wanganui, Ruapehu and Rangitikei region, the Marlborough region and the Rotorua region. I know from my meetings in Wanganui ... how well, under the chairmanship of Mayor Chas Poynter, the local authorities, local iwi and other groups are making progress. They have already got a working group, local commitment and innovative ideas to improve their region. With this funding, Rotorua can now build on the board development plan they have and Marlborough can start to develop their plan.
Regions were able to apply for funding in 3 components: Up to $100,000 for Strategy Development (total of $8 million applied for) Up to $100,000 for Building Capability (total of $8 million applied for) and up to $2,000,000 for major regional initiatives (total of $93 million applied for). The Programme aims to help whole regions work together to develop strategic plans that can improve economic activitiy and create sustainable jobs.

Design Culture important for New Zealand
"New Zealand needs to develop a design culture," Jim Anderton said speaking at a function held by Designindustry Workshops in Christchurch in February Jim Anderton said outstanding design should be seen as being just as central to New Zealand's success in achieving excellence in manufacturing and engineering.

"If we want a sustained rise in our real incomes, we need more than inherited advantages. We need to create advantages for New Zealand. Design is a high-skill, high-value industry dependent on innovation. It is a central component of differentiating New Zealand industry from the products and services of other countries," he said.

The Designindustry Workshops received support from Industry New Zealand.

BIZ research results
"The BIZ and BIZinfo schemes are really helping Kiwi business, but new research shows us some changes may be needed", said Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton.

"Over 31,000 people and 7,000 businesses have been supported already but this evaluation shows that BIZ can work better. The Government is assessing the programme to make changes which will be announced early this year.

A seven volume evaluation of the BIZ and BIZinfo programmes that advise and assist business has been released.
"This is the most comprehensive evaluation carried out on a New Zealand industry assistance programme, and it will be invaluable in looking at ways this Labour Alliance Coalition Government can tune the jobs machine to create sustainable employment and businesses," said Jim Anderton.

BIZ has two streams: -
* a general information service available to everyone through call centres and local BIZ shops and
* a management upskilling stream targeted at improving the skills of managers of small and medium businesses.

The evaluation was carried out by an independent consortium made up of BERL (Business and Economic Research Ltd), the National Research Bureau, and the New Zealand Centre for SME Research at Massey University, and included a survey of 800 businesses, interviews with most of the BIZ providers, and interviews with 800 clients.

Full results of the research are on www.med.govt.nz .

Economic Development contacts:
www.executive.govt.nz/minister/anderton/index.html
www.industrynz.govt.nz
www.med.govt.nz
www.bizinfo.co.nz 08004BIZINFO
Venture capital information www.vcapital.co.nz 0800VCAPITAL
www.alliance.org.nz

Comments on this e-newsletter are welcome.
If you know someone who should be added to the distribution list or you want your details changed or to be taken off the list, or you can email jim.anderton@parliament.govt.nz.

If you are receiving this by fax and have an email address then please provide us with your email address.

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