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Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce leaves for the United States tomorrow on the inaugural Air New Zealand flight to Houston, Texas.

“Houston is the fourth largest city in the US and a major airline hub for the southern and eastern United States,” says Mr Joyce. “It is hugely exciting to see our national carrier flying there and reaching into the middle of the continental US for the first time.

The Government has committed to a further five and a half years of support to help small businesses grow through its Regional Business Partner programme, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Small Business Minister Craig Foss announced today.

Regional Business Partners are local hubs of business development know-how and research and development (R&D) expertise for companies.

All-of-Government procurement contracts are now estimated to be saving $699 million for participating government agencies and taxpayers, an increase on June’s forecast figure of $415 million, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce announced today.

“The increase in forecast savings is due to improved supplier engagement, greater efficiencies and the implementation of more new contracts,” Mr Joyce says.

Opportunities for more investment, more jobs and better incomes for the West Coast will be the focus of a comprehensive economic study announced today by Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy.

A new report on New Zealand’s food and beverage export sector shows that the sector is successfully achieving growth by investing in added value products and moving up the value chain.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy today released the 2015 edition of the Investor’s Guide to the New Zealand Food and Beverage Industry which shows increasing levels of investment in product diversification and branded high value consumer products.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Associate Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment, Louise Upston have welcomed the announcement today of a new tourism and hospitality college that will open in Northland early next year.

The QRC Tai Tokerau Resort College, will open in Paihia with four student intakes per year. Established by the Queenstown Resort College (QRC), the new college has been developed with support from NZ Māori Tourism.

Partnerships between two New Zealand pilot training institutions and Viet Flight Training will help increase the number of pilots entering the burgeoning Vietnamese aviation market.

Eagle Flight Training and International Aviation Academy of New Zealand both signed agreements with the Vietnamese Flight Training Company to formalise their business partnerships.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce today announced the signing of an agreement between New Zealand and Viet Nam that will allow greater collaboration between both countries’ health sectors.

The signing of the Letter of Arrangement in Hanoi brings opportunities for health-related industries to work with each other’s government agencies, Mr Joyce says.

“This agreement cements the commitment of our respective governments to work together to share knowledge and collaborate in our respective areas of health expertise.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce has today signed a new agreement between New Zealand and Viet Nam which will support Viet Nam’s rapidly growing aviation sector and create new opportunities for New Zealand businesses.

Steven Joyce and Viet Nam Minister of Transport, H.E. Dinh La Thang signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Aviation Cooperation that allows for information-sharing and regular meetings to expand aviation partnerships between both countries.  

Economic Development and Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce has left for Viet Nam today to advance New Zealand’s bilateral relationship and discuss trade opportunities.                             

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne have announced a list of twelve telecommunications providers who have been selected to provide telecommunications and managed security services to Government.

Government agencies will be able to easily select the suppliers and services they want based on their business needs. The All of Government contract will save taxpayers at least $20-$30 million within the first two years

Improving the quality of our natural resources is the key to sustaining economic growth in our primary sectors right across regional New Zealand, says Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy.

Ministers Joyce and Guy today launched the updated Building Natural Resources chapter of the Business Growth Agenda with an emphasis on lifting primary sector productivity while improving our environmental outcomes at the same time.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce today announced a Major Events Development Fund (MEDF) investment of $1.2 million in the next three Ultimate Waterman events.

The Ultimate Waterman seeks the world’s best all-round waterman across various disciplines including surfing, stand-up paddle board, waka-ama, water skill and endurance events.

The Major Events Fund invested $300,000 in the inaugural event in March this year, and the additional investment will support the 2016, 2017 and 2018 events.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Associate Economic Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell have today announced up to $3 million to finalise geotechnical investigations and design options for a new harbour entrance in Ōpōtiki.

The Ōpōtiki Harbour Development Project is one of the key initiatives of the Bay of Plenty Regional Economic Action Plan designed to lift employment, incomes and investment across the region.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy today launched the Bay of Plenty Regional Economic Action Plan, a set of key initiatives designed to lift employment, incomes and investment across the region.

“The Bay of Plenty region is growing well as a result of the recovery from the kiwifruit PSA crisis and the rapidly growing tourism industry.  This Bay of Plenty Action Plan will ensure growth is maintained and extended to all parts of the region, especially the eastern Bay,” Mr Joyce says.

SkyCity’s announcement today of its commitment to a $700 million building works programme for the New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC) together with a 300-room hotel, 1300 carparks and the accompanying laneway is a huge boost for the Auckland and New Zealand visitor economy, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce says.

“Today’s announcement is the culmination of years of planning and collaboration between the Crown and SkyCity,” Mr Joyce says.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce today released the 2015 Regional Economic Activity Report which highlights economic opportunities for regions across New Zealand.

The report by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment provides the most recent facts from Statistics New Zealand on the economy of each region. It supports the Government’s Business Growth Agenda by increasing understanding of the New Zealand economy and its component regional economies.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.