Board of trade agency named

By KEVIN TAYLOR

The new body to replace Trade New Zealand and Industry New Zealand will have a $160 million budget and a nine-member board.

Its board will be headed by Phil Lough, chief executive of the Sealord Group from 1994 until this year. He is a director of several companies and was deputy chief executive of the former Dairy Board.

In September the Government confirmed plans to merge the two organisations.

The Cabinet has approved the merger into a yet-to-be-named organisation, which is expected to be running by July 1.

The other board members are Peter Menzies, Craig Ellison, Michael Andrews, Ken Douglas, Emily Loughnan, Craig Boyce, Wendy Pye and Jenny Morel.

The board replaces the boards of the two existing organisations on December 1.

Economic Development Minister Jim Anderton and Trade Negotiations Minister Jim Sutton said one of the board's first jobs would be to appoint a chief executive.

Anderton said the organisation had been formed as a response to calls from businesses and other stakeholders for a single economic and trade development agency.

Sutton said New Zealand businesses and the economy would benefit from an organisation that provided seamless, flexible and responsive services to businesses throughout their life cycle - from start-up to global expansion.

Anderton said the merged body, which his Progressive Coalition party had promised during the election campaign, would be a one-stop shop for industry assistance. The agency would work with businesses, industries and regions to make the most of favourable economic conditions, and the positive business environment created by the Government.

He said legislation to allow the creation of the body would be given a high priority next year.

Trade NZ, with 384 staff and 46 offices in New Zealand and overseas, is three times larger than Industry NZ, which has about 120 staff.