Situation and Outlook for New Zealand Agriculture and Forestry (August 2008)
4 Fast forward
New Zealand’s primary sectors are the powerhouse of our economy and we enjoy a comparative advantage in our pastoral and food industries (horticulture, dairy, meat and seafood).
The environment is changing, both domestically and internationally, and we need to invest more in innovation to remain both competitive and sustainable, and to better align the pastoral and food industries with trends and opportunities in global markets.
Discussions between industry and Government identified an urgent need to collaboratively marshal public and private resources to lift economic and environmental performance in our most important and competitive industries.
To this end, the Government has recently announced the New Zealand Fast Forward initiative, which will establish a unique partnership between government and industry. Under the scheme, the partners will collaboratively invest in targeted innovation programmes and projects that enhance sustainability and productivity across all the primary sectors.
New Zealand Fast Forward is a new way of working to ensure we have a highly skilled workforce and an innovation system that supports sustainable economic transformation.
The Government has committed $700 million upfront (plus all interest earnings) to be invested over the next 10 to 15 years. It expects industry will match this over the same timeframe – resulting in an estimated total of $2 billion.
An Establishment Group has advised on the New Zealand Fast Forward governance structure and strategy development. This included leaders from 10 industry organisations and government agencies, including Fonterra, Meat & Wool New Zealand, Zespri, DairyNZ, PGG Wrightson and the Meat Industry Association.
Contact for Enquiries
Monitoring and Evaluation
PO Box 2526
Wellington
New Zealand
