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42. Achieving this vision will require concerted and bold action on the part of both industry and government. The initiatives outlined in this paper represent initial steps toward the vision's implementation. They fall into four categories. These are:

• [withheld under section 9(2)f(iv) of the Official Information Act];
• a range of more generic initiatives which impact positively on the sector;
• six key initiatives that address a number of the key taskforce recommendations (or groups of recommendations with a similar theme) and which are closely aligned with the government's economic transformation objectives; and
• a view (in Annex 1) on each of the Taskforce's recommendations, whether they can be progressed now, how they align with or are addressed by existing work streams or whether further work is required.

[withheld under section 9(2)f(iv) of the Official Information Act]

43. The Taskforce identified that the actions needed to achieve the full commercial potential of the sector fall into three categories:

1. those requiring new initiatives by the government, or a better alignment and co-ordination of existing government programmes;
2. those requiring changes to the way private interests (broadly defined to include business, industry organisations, trade unions, local government agencies and research and education providers) behave, individually and collaboratively; and
3. those requiring joint initiatives or better collaboration between the government and private interests.

44. The taskforce's recommendations focused mainly on actions for government. This is because the taskforce itself had little control over the levers that might be needed to affect the way private actors behave, and could only make statements to encourage joint initiatives and collaboration. Hence, the taskforce recommendations did not fully reflect the tenor of submissions or taskforce members' views on the full suite of actions necessary to transform the sector. Indeed a number of recommendations essentially advocated ongoing engagement on specific issues.

45. With respect to (ii) and (iii) (in paragraph 43 above) the taskforce's recommendations focused on:

• investigating possible actions to reduce the cost structure for exporters;
• the need for greater collaboration between SMEs and between science and industry more generally. In particular, taskforce recommendation 16.2 requested: that the government provide security of funding over a five year period for at least five and up to seven regionally focused food and beverage "action alliances". The Taskforce envisaged funding of up to $2 million per annum⁴ but noted the actual amount should be calibrated to achieve step-change in member capability and performance; and
• that the government engage directly with the top tier of firms (by size) in the sector to identify how to address constraints on growth and/or assist in realising new opportunities.

46. Effective economic transformation requires a focused approach. This means working with selected stakeholders that have the willingness and capacity to develop new activities or opportunities. The food and beverage sector is broadly based and it is critical to design effective channels of engagement which will result in material change.

47. As noted earlier in this paper, advancing transformation in the food and beverage sector will require identifying where and how innovation can be used to build-off existing and emerging capabilities in the sector. Several work programmes led by MED are in train to identify and design the necessary mechanisms to enable informed choices on these matters, and to implement more focused and collaborative approaches to industry development policy. These include:

• [withheld under section 9(2)f(iv) of the Official Information Act].
• continued work on New Zealand's innovation system;
• [withheld under section 9(2)f(iv) of the Official Information Act].

48. [withheld under section 9(2)f(iv) of the Official Information Act].

49. [withheld under section 9(2)f(iv) of the Official Information Act].

50. [withheld under section 9(2)f(iv) of the Official Information Act].