Attracting high-quality business investment into all parts of New Zealand is the key focus for the update of the Building Investment workstream of the Business Growth Agenda released by Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce today.

The Investment Chapter aims to ensure that New Zealand has the right conditions to support and encourage more business investment, and builds on recent work to ensure New Zealand has robust financial markets regulation to support domestic capital growth.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today announced the appointment of Alison Barrass to the Callaghan Innovation Board.

Callaghan Innovation was established in 2013 to support science and technology-based innovation and its commercialisation by businesses, in order to improve their growth and competitiveness.

The Minister for Regulatory Reform, Steven Joyce, and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regulatory Reform, David Seymour, have today released a draft bill to repeal a range of redundant legislation.

The Statutes Repeal Bill will remove 120 pieces of superfluous legislation, and parts of eight other acts. It is being consulted on before it is introduced to Parliament.

“The proposed Bill would reduce the total number of public Acts in force by more than 10%,” Mr Joyce says.

Using innovation and digital transformation to drive diversification of New Zealand’s economy is a major theme for the update of the Building Innovation chapter of the Business Growth Agenda.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today outlined the Government’s strategy for developing New Zealand into a hub for high-value and knowledge-intensive businesses that are conducting more research and development (R&D) to lift innovation.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy have today welcomed the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a great deal for regional New Zealand.

“This free trade agreement is all about giving our exporters, whether they’re farmers or manufacturers, access into the big consumer markets of the world on a more equal footing with local suppliers,” Mr Joyce says.

Minister of Finance Bill English and Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce today announced that six banks have been awarded contracts for the supply of All-of-Government (AOG) banking services, with Westpac to provide the Crown Transactional Banking services.

“It has been more than 25 years since government banking services have been put out to tender,” Mr English says. “Over this time there has been considerable evolution in the banking and financial services sector.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce has today announced changes to the International Relationships Fund to better support high-quality international science collaborations.

The changes follow an independent evaluation commissioned by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), which determined that the fund was valued but that adjustments were required to improve its impact.

“International collaboration strengthens the capacity of our science system and ensures New Zealand remains at the forefront of new developments,” Mr Joyce says.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce has today launched the inaugural National Statement of Science Investment (NSSI), which sets the long-term strategic direction for the Government’s investment in science.

“The NSSI provides a timely stocktake on the overall shape of our science system that will help determine where the next investments should be made.” Mr Joyce says.

More young people will have the opportunity to combine study and practical experience with 940 additional places in Trades Academies, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Education Minis

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Associate Trade Minister Todd McClay will today join senior business and government representatives at the second New Zealand-China Partnership Forum in Beijing.

“The New Zealand-China Partnership Forum is an important platform for deepening and strengthening the economic and political relationship between our two countries. This Forum will build on the successful inaugural Forum held in 2013, which I attended alongside Prime Minister John Key and several of my ministerial colleagues,” Mr Joyce says.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce has today unveiled a plaque at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Guangzhou in acknowledgment of the strength of science collaboration between New Zealand and China.

The plaque represents the partnership between the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health and New Zealand’s Maurice Wilkins Centre, which collectively have formed the Joint Centre for Biomedicine.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce leaves tomorrow for his second visit to China this year, where he will represent the Government at the New Zealand-China Partnership Forum in Beijing. He will also visit Guangzhou in southern China, a significant economic player in the Chinese economy and a top source of Chinese students and tourists in New Zealand.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce today welcomed the decision by Auckland  Council to grant a resource consent for the New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC).

Twelve of New Zealand’s most talented early to mid-career researchers have been awarded Rutherford Discovery Fellowships for 2015, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce announced today.

The Fellowships foster the development of future research leaders by providing funding of up to $800,000 each over five years to cover salary and research costs. The funding is administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand on behalf of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today announced the recipients of this year’s James Cook Research Fellowships, which are awarded to researchers recognised for leadership and sustained excellence in their field.

The four 2015 Fellows will each receive up to $200,000 over two years to undertake fulltime research.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce has launched the Science for Technological Innovation National Science Challenge, confirming initial funding of $32.92 million.

The Challenge is the seventh of New Zealand’s 11 National Science Challenges to be launched, and it aims to develop new and innovative technologies to create commercially successful breakthrough products.

Hosted by Callaghan Innovation, it will involve three Crown research institutes and eight universities, all collaborating with businesses.

Strengthening key market relationships and diversifying into new markets is a major theme for the update of the Export Markets workstream of the Business Growth Agenda released by Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Trade Minister Tim Groser in Auckland this morning.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce has today announced that from 2017 all Universities, Wānanga, Polytechnics and funded Private Training Establishments that meet certain thresholds will be required to publish information about the employment status and earnings of their graduates broken down by specific degrees and diplomas.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce today thanked departing chief executive Franceska Banga for her work for New Zealand’s venture capital and angel investment industries following her resignation from the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund (NZVIF).

Ms Banga was appointed the inaugural Chief Executive of NZVIF in 2001, which was established to help develop the start-up and growth capital markets for New Zealand-originated companies with high-growth potential.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce has today welcomed the first opportunity for businesses, researchers, private investors and Government to collaborate on establishing new Regional Research Institutes, with a series of workshops beginning this week.

Mr Joyce says the new institutes are proposed in order to stimulate leading edge, commercially focused, and industry relevant research in regional New Zealand. This would help grow innovation and competitiveness by making the most of local industry, technology, and economic development opportunities.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Transport Minister Simon Bridges have today congratulated students from Rutherford College and Green Bay High School for winning the Waterview Connection Schools Challenge.

Over the past three months 2,592 Year 10 students from across Auckland have been learning about engineering careers by taking part in the challenge about the Waterview Connection, one of New Zealand’s most complex roading projects and one of the most important infrastructure developments ever to take place in New Zealand.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce has today announced funding for 48 new science research programmes, for a total investment of $96.5 million over the next four years.

The funding has been allocated through the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) 2015 science investment round.

Mr Joyce says the new programmes reflect the high quality of research across the country, which helps boost New Zealand’s productivity and competitiveness.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce has today welcomed the commencement of the 2015 Queenstown Research Week.

The event is New Zealand’s largest annual scientific gathering, bringing together over a thousand researchers for meetings and presentations covering a range of areas, with a focus on biological and medical sciences.