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Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today announced the winners of New Zealand’s most prestigious annual science awards.

“The Prime Minister’s Science Prizes recognise researchers of the highest quality who are working on projects that are of real benefit to New Zealand,” Mr Joyce says.

The Government initiative aimed at encouraging overseas student loan debtors to start repaying their loans has now netted $150 million in additional payments, and the pace of collection is picking up.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Revenue Minister Todd McClay say the initiative took three years to collect its first $100 million, and just six months to collect the next fifty million. It now has a year-to-date return of $16 for every $1 invested in it.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce will travel to Sydney on Sunday morning to attend the New Zealand job fair.

The Sydney job fair is the second event in the job fair series, which is taking place across Australia. More than 35 Kiwi employers are heading to Sydney to recruit skilled job seekers to help fill emerging skill gaps in the IT, engineering, healthcare, construction and trades sectors. Around 30 employers and 1750 jobseekers attended the first fair in Perth last weekend.

An annual report on the performance of the tertiary sector confirms that the number of domestic students who completed bachelors degrees in 2013 is the highest ever, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says.

Profile & Trends 2013, released today by the Ministry of Education, showed that last year 26,200 bachelors degrees were completed by domestic students, up 4,950 since 2010 – an increase of 23 per cent.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce travels to Perth today for a short series of engagements.

This weekend sees Perth hosting the first of four New Zealand job fairs in Australia targeting some emerging skills shortages in New Zealand, particularly in the fields of construction trades, engineering, and computer software and design.  Mr Joyce will attend the job fair tomorrow.

“We have a growing economy that is set to create more than 50,000 skilled jobs over the next couple of years,” Mr Joyce says.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today welcomed the confirmation of three research collaborations with China.

“China is an important and growing science and innovation partner for New Zealand, and President Xi Jinping’s visit this week highlights the strong science and innovation ties between our countries,” Mr Joyce says.

The New Zealand and Australian governments have today re-confirmed their commitment to a single competitive procurement market with the signing of the Australia and New Zealand Government Procurement Agreement (ANZGPA), Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce says.

The ANZGPA has been in existence since 1991 but has recently undergone a review to ensure it is still fit for purpose, in light of evolving procurement practices.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce today announced a Major Events Development Fund (MEDF) investment of $550,000 for an international Golden Oldies event to be held in Christchurch in 2018. 

The Golden Oldies World Sports Festival is a month-long event that will attract masters age teams and individuals from across the world to participate in seven sports: cricket, football, golf, hockey, netball, rugby and softball. 

A Government service to help businesses raise capital and accelerate their international growth is turning its focus to the investment needs and opportunities of highly innovative firms and mid-range companies valued at up to $25 million.

Better by Capital was developed following research that revealed some potentially high-growth firms find it difficult to access capital. Under the programme, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise works with companies to develop a tailored plan to identify the work they need to do to prepare for new capital investment.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce today announced the signing with China of two initiatives that will further enhance educational initiatives between China and New Zealand.

The bilateral education arrangements were part of the eighth meeting of the New Zealand-China Joint Working Group on Education and Training, which coincided with the visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to New Zealand this week.

Scholarships have been awarded to 160 top students from around the country to study at Asian institutions next year under the Prime Minister’s Scholarship for Asia programme.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says the scholarships see Kiwi students studying in some of New Zealand’s key markets such as China, Japan, Vietnam and India, with others flying the flag in smaller countries like Myanmar and Brunei.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce has welcomed today’s announcement by German Chancellor Angela Merkel of a Memorandum of Understanding between Auckland University’s Bio-engineering Institute and Germany’s Fraunhofer.

“Science is the jewel in the crown of the bilateral relationship between New Zealand and Germany,” Mr Joyce says. “Research co-operation between NZ and Germany is underpinned by the Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement which was signed back in 1977.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today announced the recipients of this year’s James Cook Research Fellowships.

The Fellowships are awarded to researchers recognised for leadership and sustained excellence in their field. The three 2014 Fellows will each receive up to $100,000 a year to undertake fulltime research over two years. 

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today announced the recipient of the first repayable grant through Callaghan Innovation’s expanded business incubator network.

Tiro Lifesciences, an early-stage medical diagnostic company focusing initially on the development of technology for the detection of breast cancer in dense tissue, has been granted up to $450,000 over two years to develop a pain and radiation-free medical-imaging tool.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today announced the recipients of the 2014 Rutherford Foundation Trust Awards.

The Trust aims to develop the skills of New Zealand’s brightest and most promising young researchers by providing them with early career support.

“These prestigious awards have this year been granted to seven researchers of the highest quality – four postdoctoral fellowships and three PhD scholarship students,” says Mr Joyce.

Steady job growth in the September quarter has lowered New Zealand’s unemployment rate to 5.4 per cent in the latest Household Labour Force Survey, the lowest unemployment rate since March 2009.

The HLFS shows an increase of 18,000 people employed in the September quarter and 72,000 over the last year as the economy continues to strengthen following the Global Financial Crisis.

“It’s very encouraging to see the increasing confidence of companies around the country as they build their businesses and hire more people,” Mr Joyce says.

New Zealand’s top researchers will receive $56 million in Marsden Fund grants over the next three years as a result of funding decisions announced today, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce says.

101 programmes have been approved in this year’s funding round and include projects on robotics as therapy for cerebral palsy, using Google balloons to probe weather systems, why heart failure is common in diabetics, and fine-scale imaging of the Alpine Fault zone.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Trade Minister Tim Groser today welcomed the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) decision on the terms for New Zealand’s accession to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) in Geneva.

“A positive decision on the terms of New Zealand’s accession has been reached with GPA parties in Geneva overnight (NZ time), following two years of negotiations,” Mr Joyce says.

An Innovation Hub to support new and emerging businesses is the latest addition to the Christchurch Innovation Precinct, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce says.

A joint partnership between Canterbury Development Corporation and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the Hub will support early stage entrepreneurs by providing the necessary technological and social infrastructure required by start-up and early-stage firms to grow.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce and Food Safety Minister Jo Goodhew today announced that Massey University will host the new Food Safety Science and Research Centre.

The Centre will promote, co-ordinate, and deliver food safety science and research for New Zealand. It was a key recommendation from the Government Inquiry into the Whey Protein Concentrate (WPC) Contamination Incident.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy today announced the Government will invest more than $15 million over a maximum of seven years to support four research partnerships that will benefit New Zealand’s primary industries. 

“These investments will enhance industry involvement and collaboration on strategic research, and improve the performance of key parts of our primary industries leading to increased exports,” Mr Joyce says.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce has congratulated New Zealand’s TIN 100 companies on reaching $7.6 billion in annual turnover, a $1 billion increase over the last five years.

The annual TIN 100 report released last night in Auckland shows the turnover of New Zealand’s top 100 technology companies grew 3.6 per cent over the 2013/14 year, while exports grew 2.3 per cent to $5.6 billion.

The Government has announced that a series of job fairs will be held in capital cities across Australia to encourage more Kiwis to return home and Australians to settle here to help fill emerging skills gaps and support thriving New Zealand-based businesses.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, together with international employment event organiser Working In, will be hosting the first two expos in Perth on 22-23 November and Sydney on the 29-30 November. Further events will follow in Melbourne and Brisbane in the first quarter of next year.