Hon Steven Joyce

Minister of Finance

Hon Simon Bridges

Minister for Economic Development

27 July 2017

BGA refresh to sustain growth

The Government has today released the Business Growth Agenda 2017 RefreshReport with a focus on continuing to deliver strong economic growth for the benefit of all New Zealanders, Finance Minister Steven Joyce and Economic Development Minister Simon Bridges say.

“The Refresh reflects the Government’s ongoing commitment to responsible financial and economic management, together with a sustained programme of micro-economic reform and large infrastructure investments,” Mr Joyce says.

“Turning opportunities into economic benefits requires Government to be persistent and take a system-wide, long-term view of our work, and for that work to make sense to people and business,” Mr Bridges says. “In particular, we are investing for a growing and resilient economy to provide sustainable growth so the benefits are shared by all of New Zealand’s people and regions.”

The Ministers highlighted key actions in the Business Growth Agenda 2017 Refreshacross the main work programmes:

• Building Export Markets: Delivering Trade Agenda 2030 to make New Zealand more internationally connected through trade and investment and people flows and take advantage of growth across the Asia-Pacific region to create greater prosperity.

• Building Investment: Attracting higher levels of international investment throughout New Zealand that brings job growth, improves skills, and increases innovation and R&D.

• Building Innovation: Maintain and extend the growth of New Zealand’s hi-tech sector, and use Callaghan Innovation programmes, the Primary Growth Partnership and the Endeavour Fund to maintain the growth in Business R & D to at least one per cent of GDP.

• Building Skilled and Safe Workplaces: Maximising the availability of skilled people from our domestic workforce and attracting skilled workers internationally to meet the ongoing job growth in the New Zealand economy, which is currently running at 10,000 net new jobs a month.

• Building Natural Resources: Achieving the right regulatory balance in the resources sectors to allow regional economies to grow while protecting and improving environmental outcomes.

• Building Infrastructure: Successfully delivering the Government’s budgeted $32.5 Billion capital infrastructure investment over the next four years, and planning for the four years after that.

The BGA was first set up in 2012 and is the Government’s organising framework for economic growth and micro-economic reform. It aims to create an environment that businesses can grow and thrive in by through six different streams of work and three cross-cutting themes.

The BGA includes the cross-cutting themes that target strengthening Maori Economic Development, boosting regional economic development and achieving a straightforward, responsive and flexible regulatory environment.

“It is businesses that create growth and jobs. Government has a vital role to play in creating an environment that sets the conditions that help businesses achieve that growth, through policies surrounding skills, infrastructure, innovation and investment,” Mr Bridges says.

“New Zealand is now consistently achieving stronger economic growth than many other developed countries,” Mr Joyce says. “It is only by maintaining a strong and consistent economic plan that we can keep strengthening our economy further and deliver greater prosperity for all New Zealanders. The BGA is a key part of that plan.”

The Business Growth Agenda 2017 Refresh is available at:http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/business/business-growth-agenda/2017

ends

© Scoop Media