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Waikato regional economic profile - Waikato Regional Council

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4. Foster policy learning through better metrics, evaluation andexperimentation. 31The emphasis currently is on facilitating more systematic exchange and interactionamong key <strong>economic</strong> actors (firms, research providers, universities etc) because theknowledge system of which they are a part is an important determinant of <strong>regional</strong>productivity.Three of the most common categories of measures to build <strong>regional</strong> <strong>economic</strong> growthand linkages are:1. Real estate based projects: development of science parks and other industrialspaces designed to facilitate networking and technology development andtransfer through “co-location”.2. Cluster-type policies: initiatives to support existing or nascent groupings offirms by providing collective services and other measures to build cooperationwithin the cluster and to enable joint initiatives to export, market, etc.3. Linking research and industry: linking knowledge producers with users inorder to promote “systems” of technology and innovation diffusion and bettercommercialisation of innovation. 321.4.2 New Zealand policy and programmes<strong>Regional</strong> development has not been retained as a focus of the Government’s BusinessGrowth Agenda, however the current policy reflects aspects of the internationalparadigm shift, most explicitly in the formation of the New Zealand Food InnovationNetwork (open-access food development facilities), which capitalises oncomplementary <strong>regional</strong> strengths in Auckland, <strong>Waikato</strong>, Palmerston North andCanterbury.<strong>Regional</strong> development last became a focus of New Zealand government attentionduring the decade after the election of the Labour-led coalition in 1999. TheGovernment's goal for <strong>regional</strong> development at the time was for “sustainable, inclusivedevelopment in each region that sees <strong>economic</strong> growth that can be maintained overthe long term without compromising the environment and which helps to meet thesocial needs of people” 33 .The <strong>Regional</strong> Partnerships Programme was established as the Government's principal<strong>regional</strong> development programme in 2000 and ran for seven years, ceasing in June2007. The programme's objective was to build the <strong>economic</strong> capability of NewZealand's regions and it was delivered by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.Under the <strong>Regional</strong> Partnerships Programme, 26 sub-regions were formed and fundedto develop <strong>regional</strong> <strong>economic</strong> development strategies and to build <strong>economic</strong>development capability. The <strong>Regional</strong> Partnerships Programme had three components:1. <strong>Regional</strong> <strong>economic</strong> development strategy – funding ($100,000 over threeyears) for a group of stakeholders within a region to produce an <strong>economic</strong>development strategy.2. Capability building – funding to develop the necessary expertise in the regionto implement the strategy (up to $100,000 per region over 12 months).31OECD (2011, p. 19).32OECD (2005, p. 9).33New Zealand Government (2000, p. 28).Page 10 Doc #: 2069885

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