4 December 2007

Advancing Economic Transformation

A sharper focus on six priorities marks the newest phase of the Labour-led government’s economic transformation agenda. The six priorities, and approximately 50 additional pieces of work to advance economic transformation, are outlined in papers released by Economic Development Minister Pete Hodgson today.

The six priorities are:
- Improving access to quality, fast, reliable broadband services;
- Positioning New Zealand as a world-leading exponent of smart and innovative responses to environmental issues;
- Developing workplace skills, with an emphasis on basic literacy and numeracy;
- Supporting New Zealand businesses to go global and extract full value from the global supply chain;
- Focussing government investment in six proposed areas that reflect and extend New Zealand’s strengths; and
- Making Auckland a world-class hub of innovation and internationalisation.

“We have tackled some of the core issues affecting New Zealand’s economic future over the last year. For instance the $3.4 billion business tax package; including research and development support; encourages businesses to invest in their future and innovate, while Kiwisaver addresses our overall low saving rates, making good business sense as well as helping people save for their retirement.”

Pete Hodgson said the sharper focus was essential for three reasons:

- to improve our growth rate and productivity levels;
- to be well-placed to capture commercial opportunities around the growing world-wide interest in environmental sustainability; and
- to position New Zealand to take advantage of an increasingly integrated global economy.

“The paper released today provides the overall direction for how we will achieve these things. Fleshing out the detail around each of the priorities will involve an active dialogue between business and government in the coming months.” said Pete Hodgson.

The Cabinet paper is available at:
www.med.govt.nz/economic-transformation/overview/cab-papers/et

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