Govt to undertake Northland growth study

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy today announced a new programme of work commencing in the Northland region to evaluate opportunities to further increase investment, employment and incomes in the region.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the Ministry for Primary Industries will work alongside regional stakeholders such as the local and regional councils and the economic development agency to deliver a broad study of the region’s economic potential.

“Regions across New Zealand have been leading our recovery out of the GFC. The Government is committed to helping all our regions to attract investment and create more and higher-paying jobs. This work will help encourage more investment to build stronger and more innovative regional economies,” Mr Joyce says.

“The findings will also inform work by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to attract investment into the region to support development and ultimately to provide employment.”

Mr Guy says the first report will build on work already started by MPI to unlock the potential for growth in Northland’s primary sector.

“We know that  forestry and farming are a large part of the Northland economy, but there is significant scope to add more value to these and other resource-based industries in the region. We also want to evaluate what opportunities there are to develop other avenues of economic growth, like manufacturing and tourism,” Mr Guy says.

“The opportunities will be identified through bringing together knowledge held by local business people, iwi/Maori and stakeholders, with official data, and independent economic analysis.”

The first study, for the Gisborne/Hawke’s Bay region, arose out of discussions with their Regional Councils and local authorities last year and is nearly complete. Additional studies will be commissioned in partnership with other regions.

The request for proposal on the Northland Regional Growth Report can be viewed at: http://www.gets.govt.nz

Northland: Potential for Primary Industry Growth is available at: http://www.mpi.govt.nz/Default.aspx?TabId=126&id=2053