9. Question No. 9—Small BusinessTĀMATI COFFEY (Labour) to the Minister for Small BusinessQuestion No. 9—Small Business9. TĀMATI COFFEY (Labour) to the Minister for Small Business: What is the Government doing to support digital training and advice for small businesses?Hon STUART NASH (Minister for Small Business): We are backing small businesses as the economy recovers. Budget 2021's biggest focus was on securing the economic recovery while continuing to keep people safe. Specifically in my small business portfolio Budget 2021 set aside $44 million over two years for a new initiative to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It will provide business training courses for 60000 SMEs and further support another 30000 SMEs through digital advisory services as part of the Digital Boost programme. This new initiative will enable small businesses to recover from the global economic impact of COVID-19 and take advantage of new opportunities through e-commerce. Digital commerce also contributes to higher wages higher productivity and a lower-carbon economy—SPEAKER: Order! The member has answered the question.Hon STUART NASH: It's half as long as Megan's one.Tāmati Coffey: How is the Government working with business to drive wider uptake of digital tools and technologies?Hon STUART NASH: Our aspiration is for New Zealand to have the most digitally enabled small business sector in the world. Last month a new public-private partnership was launched to improve access to digital technology and training for small businesses. The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment has launched the Digital Boost initiative to bring the private sector on board. Organisations make a public commitment to support small businesses workers or communities with free or discounted goods services advice or training. One of the companies at the launch Google said there was enormous opportunity" if digital transformation is embraced and that "$46.6 billion worth of economic value could be gained by 2030 if we do this right". Other agencies Xero and the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research estimate real GDP could increase between $3.5 billion and $6.2 billion if there was just 20 percent increase in the uptake of cloud computing alone.SPEAKER: The member answered that question and about three others.Tāmati Coffey: What response has he seen from small businesses for wider training and advisory support especially in regional Aotearoa New Zealand?Hon STUART NASH: In the member's own area of Rotorua/Bay of Plenty there has been a strong uptake of Government-funded COVID business support for training and advice. The member who owns a successful small business himself in Rotorua will know of the Regional Business Partner programme which utilises established networks like chambers of commerce and economic development agencies and this has been active. More than 1000 small businesses in the Bay of Plenty have accessed the Government-funded voucher system for specialist advice and training across a range of disciplines. Support worth $2.8 million has been rolled out to Bay of Plenty businesses through this voucher system. The global pandemic is still our biggest threat but we are well placed to deal with it through initiatives like free digital training and advice.Hon Todd McClay: Does the Minister really believe that the digital training will outweigh the significant cost imposed on small businesses by his Government through sharp increases to the minimum wage doubling of sick leave costs—SPEAKER: OK. That's two now.Hon Todd McClay: But he had three.SPEAKER: He might have given three answers but he didn't have two questions.Hon STUART NASH: There are many initiatives this Government is implementing to help small businesses. This is but one of them."