4. Hon MARK GOSCHE (Labour—Maungakiekie) Link to this
to the Minister for Economic Development
What Labour-led Government assistance is there to help New Zealand firms take advantage of new business opportunities overseas?
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister for Economic Development) Link to this
Nearly 600 companies around New Zealand have signed up for the Government’s Market Development Assistance scheme in the last year. From an initial funding pool of $6.7 million in January 2005, the scheme has grown now to more than $50 million annually. That is $50 million of taxpayer support to mostly small or medium-sized exporters to help them break into new markets so that back home they can grow further and faster than would otherwise be the case.
What advice has the Minister received about when we will see the beneficial effects from this scheme—will it be immediate or will it take a longer time?
The answer is really both. There are immediate gains for some exporters, but market development is generally a longer-term undertaking, as any exporter will confirm. Offshore markets take time to research, to enter, and to expand into. Our exporting community seeks to build strong and sustainable offshore markets, and now it has a Government that will pick up half the tab of doing so.
Dr Richard WorthWhy is New Zealand Trade and Enterprise not prepared to establish measurement mechanisms for the amount of money it expends on export support, unlike its Australian counterpart, Austrade—for then we would know what money was worthwhile and what money was wasted?
The member misrepresents New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. It is very keen on an evaluation mechanism, and indeed the first results from such a mechanism will be available in, I think, June 2008.
Sue BradfordDoes the Minister agree that the Ministry of Economic Development’s successful Buy Kiwi Made programme has provided a greater opportunity for New Zealand manufacturers to sell their products locally rather than export them overseas, and that the result of this is more local jobs kept here, more money returned and retained in our communities, and lower transport costs—all this better than if we had kept going with an ever-increasing dependence on imports?