Building an Innovative Economy

For New Zealand to succeed through the 21st century, we know we must engage and be open with the world. We need to get out there and sell our ideas, our processes, our products and our services on the world stage.

That means keeping innovation at the heart of what we do and that requires having the strongest possible science and innovation system that helps us punch above our weight.

New Zealand has a proud history of innovation and innovators. As our ancestors came to this country from around the world, they had to adapt as innovators to survive and thrive.

Those who came to New Zealand from across the world couldn’t make a quick trip home to pick up something they hadn’t brought with them. They had to make it again, or develop it for the first time.

That innovative spirit remains at the forefront of being a Kiwi.

We have inherited an inquisitive, can-do approach that focuses on coming up with new and creative solutions to problems, not spending time contemplating whether we have enough resources to do a job.

As a result of this innovative spirit our companies and our science teams achieve things that always surprise those from much bigger countries. Our innovative heritage is our past and our present, but is also our future.

The Government is encouraging more Innovation as one of the key planks of the Business Growth Agenda (BGA), a set of 300 micro-economic initiatives which is helping create the conditions for businesses to invest in jobs and growth.

The BGA is how we will convert a couple of years of good growth into a sustained lift of our economic performance that will have long term benefits for New Zealand. 

The BGA is a crucial part of this Government’s plan to create a strong and diversified economy, one that will continue moving towards embracing high value products and services that provide a premium for exporters and higher wages for Kiwi workers.

In this year’s Budget the Government has announced it will increase its BGA investment in developing a smarter, high-tech economy with the Innovative New Zealand Package

Innovative New Zealand is a $761 million package of initiatives in science, innovation, tertiary education, and regional development that puts innovation at the heart of our diversifying economy.

A large part of this will go towards mission-led and discovery science across all sectors of the New Zealand economy and society.

It also increases funding for health research in order to create a more dynamic, well-connected and world-leading health system that markedly improves the health, social and economic well-being of New Zealanders.

We have assigned additional funding for two schemes that speed up the commercialisation of new clever technologies developed by scientists and entrepreneurs. Our aim is to encourage more high-tech businesses to join the hundreds of other Kiwi companies that are already competing and succeeding on the world stage.

The Government is actively enabling businesses to increase their investment in innovation by providing firms with access to R&D grants, technical knowledge, and product development and commercialisation expertise.

We are also strengthening New Zealand’s innovation infrastructure by investing in broadband connectivity and regional research institutes and supporting the development of innovation hubs and precincts.

 This is just a small snapshot of the number of ways we are making New Zealand a smarter, better-equipped economy, where our talented exporters can compete and win on the world stage.