Bayly Andrew: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBayly Andrew: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 11 August 2015. Volume:707;Page:5563. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]4.ANDREW BAYLY (National—Hunua) to the Minister for Economic Development: What progress is the Government making in diversifying the New Zealand economy?Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Economic Development): Very good progress. There has been very significant diversification in the economy since 2008 and many sectors of the economy are growing significantly in proportion. In fact there are 199000 more people employed now than there were 4½ years ago with 24500 more employed in manufacturing in the past year alone. Sectors as diverse as the information and communications technology sector which has grown at a rate of 9 percent per annum since 2008 now contribute 1.7 percent of GDP. International education is now worth nearly $2.85 billion and supports more than 30000 Kiwi jobs. The wine industry’s exports were $1.37 billion last year up 8.2 percent in 1 year. High-tech manufacturing has grown from a $139 million industry a few years ago to a $1.4 billion one now. The tourism industryis of course worth 7 percent of GDPnow. Although the dairy industry is struggling at the moment—and that will certainly have an impact on the New Zealand economy—other parts of the economy are growing strongly and are helping to counteract that.Andrew Bayly: What is the Government doing to further diversify the New Zealand economy?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: Encouraging the economy to diversify and grow in different sectors is a very important part of the Government’s comprehensive Business Growth Agenda. Initiatives contained in the Business Growth Agenda include Callaghan Innovation and we are investing more and more in research and development for New Zealand’s high-tech companies in order to develop new products and services. As part of Budget 2015 we invested an additional $80 million bringing our total contribution to science and innovation to around $1.5 billion a year—70 percent more than 8 years ago. We are establishing information and communications technology grad schools to train more young people for this industry. We are lifting greatly the number of people in engineering disciplines; we are investing more in critical infrastructure like the roads of national significance and ultra-fast broadband; and through New Zealand Trade and Enterprise we are encouraging more New Zealand companies to grow offshore.Andrew Bayly: How is the Government encouraging New Zealand companies to grow their offshore businesses and to expand into new and developing markets?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: That is a very important part of the task and that is why we have increased the number of companies that New Zealand Trade and Enterprise works closely with by an additional 200 companies to 700 helping more companies to boost their global reach and to open doors in new markets. We have added new New Zealand Trade and Enterprise positions in countries as diverse as Columbia Saudi Arabia Papua New Guinea and Abu Dhabi; we have increased our presence in the Philippines Indonesia Australia the UK Germany the US Spain Chile and China; and we are further growing our international footprint. New Zealand Trade and Enterprise is working with more New Zealand companies up and down New Zealand in order to make the most of the free-trade agreements with Korea and also the new World Trade Organization government procurement agreement.Dr David Clark: Why is export growth going backwards?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I appreciate that the Opposition members do not like it because it does not fit with their lines but their lines are rubbish.