Executive Summary
2. Cabinet has agreed that economic transformation is one of the government's three priorities for the coming decade. Economic transformation will be driven by increases in the productivity of New Zealand firms, and the development of more globally competitive firms. While ultimately any growth in productivity must come from business, a range of factors from macro-economic stability to the science and education system affect the performance of firms. The influence of the local and regional level on business performance has had less focus.
3. It is therefore my intention to reshape the way government undertakes regional economic development policy to ensure that we focus on increasing the quality of the business environment in each region, in order to increase New Zealand's international competitiveness. These changes are intended to build on the success achieved through the RPP.
4. This can be achieved through a framework based on the core principles of the current policy, namely regions taking responsibility for their own development, with government focusing on building the capability to undertake strategic planning for economic development with some large scale funding. Added to this is a role for government in providing leadership and clear communication of goals, and aligning its activity in regions to support regional economic development.
5. This framework builds on what has been achieved so far, but does require some changes. For instance, greater consolidation of regions from the current 26 to about 14; greater contestability and higher quality to be attached to any large scale funding in regions; and government to prioritise its work in regions.
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