Young Jonathan: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeYoung Jonathan: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 15 April 2014. Volume:698;Page:17220. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]3.JONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth) to theMinister for Economic Development: What steps is the Government taking to encourage more investment in New Zealand’s regional economies?Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Economic Development): Last week I announced that New Zealand Trade and Enterprise is establishing a new regional investment attraction programme to encourage more international firms to invest in New Zealand’s regional economies. New Zealand Trade and Enterprise is working in partnership with regions around the country to create comprehensive investment profiles which will allow regions to clearly lay out the advantages they offer investors in terms of their natural resources their infrastructure the availability of skilled workers and innovation hubs that support investment. There are big opportunities for New Zealand from the massive growth in the number of consumers across Asia. The challenge for each of our regions is to showcase the real opportunities for competitive businesses in their regions and this new programme from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise will help them to do it in a more systematic way.Jonathan Young: What steps has the Government already taken to encourage investment in our regions?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: The Government’s Business Growth Agenda contains around 350 initiatives to help encourage growth and investment right across New Zealand. To take just a few examples there is of course our Ultra-fast Broadband Initiative and Rural Broadband Initiative to connect people in businesses from areas likeKaitāia GisborneTaupō and Queenstown with the global market place. There is the $142 million a year in research and development co-funding from Callaghan Innovation for companies across New Zealand. There is big investment in skills—engineering information and communications technology and construction trades for example—to help innovative New Zealand companies obtain their workforce. There are areas like encouraging oil and gas exploration the expansion of irrigation and water schemes reforms to improve the productivity of Māori land and the roads of national significance and regional highways plus policy and legislative changes to encourage the growth of international education across New Zealand.Jonathan Young: What recent examples has he seen of strong international investment in the regions?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I have seen a number of recent examples. In fact in the last week—last Thursday—I helped openBOC’s new air separation unit which is a $70 million investment to supply the oxygen and gases needed for New Zealand Steel for at least another 20 years. This project is a vote of confidence by both New Zealand Steel and BOC in the New Zealand steel industry. On Friday I met with ABB in Napier at its new premises a specialist research and development facility there. It employs 130 people including 27 dedicated research and development staff. It is the largest supplier of industrial motors and drives and generators for the wind industry and is also very big in power grids worldwide. Pan Pac Forest Products which is a New Zealand Trade and Enterprise customer last Friday celebrated a $70 million upgrade to its pulp mill in Napier. This investment will be very beneficial to the Hawke’s Bay economy and isanother example of a company succeeding—in this case in the forestry processing industry—without the need for politicians unfairly favouring one industry over others.Andrew Little: Does the Minister accept that the regions showing a decline in GDP per capita in the most recent statistics are all rural or provincial areas and that this is because this Government has no plans to help the regions develop their economic bases generate jobs and keep Kiwis here?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: No and if you look across the regional GDP figures for the last 5 years which this Government has recently had Statistics New Zealand update they show that the regions have in fact been lifting New Zealand out of the global financial crisis. In the case of Taranaki which the member likes to mention from time to time it has the highest GDP per capita in the country.