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Budget 2015 will provide a further $112.3 million of operating funding over four years and $1 million of capital funding to invest in knowledge and skills to grow New Zealand’s economy, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says.

“We are continuing to address the relative underfunding of higher-cost disciplines such as science and agriculture to ensure that these economically important and research-rich areas attract more investment from providers to deliver more of the skills and knowledge New Zealand needs to drive economic growth.

Budget 2015 allows for up to $25 million over three years to support the establishment of new privately led Regional Research Institutes, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce says.

The Government will work with regional stakeholders to identify where the best opportunities are to develop new institutes, and has allocated funding from 2016/17 to support best case proposals.

The Budget provides further funding of $12.1 million for the New Zealand Business Number (NZBN) initiative, which provides a unique identifier for businesses to use in their interactions with government agencies and each other.

The NZBN is part of the Government’s Better Public Services for business (Result 9) programme, which aims to reduce by 2017 the cost to businesses of interacting with government by 25 per cent, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Paul Goldsmith say.

Innovative Kiwi businesses investing in research and development (R&D) will benefit from a boost in funding for Callaghan Innovation as part of Budget 2015, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce announced today.

The Government will invest another $80 million over four years in R&D growth grants, administered by Callaghan, to encourage more private sector research and development and grow New Zealand’s R&D ecosystem.