Excellent public response to new business development programme

"There has been strong interest in the Government's new business development approach, and I am very pleased with that response," Business Development Minister Peter McCardle said today.

"The level of interest has exceeded expectations."

Expressions of interest from potential providers of services under the Business Development Programme, and the National Business Information Service, were called for recently. 419 organisations have expressed interest in delivering services under the BDP, and 200 have expressed interest in delivering the National Business Information Service.

There has been substantial interest shown from providers of services to the target groups of Maori, women and Pacific Island communities.

The National Business Information Service is a new part of the Government's policy. The aim is to provide for small and medium size businesses (SMEs) all the information they need about the help available from the Government. At present there is no single one source of that information.

"Many business people are simply too busy to find out about every form of assistance. There is in fact a wide range of help, but there is no point in having resources on tap if people don't know they exist. The information that will be provided by the service will include everything from assistance in developing new technologies, to details about management skills training.

"The strong level of response to the call for expressions of interest should result in high quality proposals which will enhance the business skills and management capabilities of SMEs," Mr McCardle said.

The Ministry of Commerce will be evaluating the submitted proposals, and the parties who have expressed interest will have until November 13 to submit detailed proposals of their plans.

"I am convinced the result will be a big boost to the level of skills among the target businesses throughout New Zealand," Mr McCardle said.