7 DECEMBER

NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE

4695

(a) Market research into new overseas markets, $2,500
(b) Exploration visits to new overseas markets, $3,000 (covers one airfare/visit only and no ground travel; applicant must show prior evidence of research and prescheduled appointments)
(c) Trade fair participation, $7,500 (may include travel)
(d) Promotion/advertising in new overseas markets, $5,000
(e) Intellectual property protection, $2,000.

III Applicant Criteria

Who may apply

17 Applications can be made by any individual, business, trust, organisation, iwi authority or incorporation etc, resident in NZ and registered for either income tax or G.S.T. purposes (ie based in NZ for the purposes of tax)

18 Applicants employing more than 50 full-time or full-time equivalent employees are not eligible to apply. This criteria ensures that the programme remains targeted at SMEs.

19 For the purposes of the Business Development Programme any 2 or more corporate bodies are deemed to be one person if—

(a) One of them is a body corporate of which the others are subsidiaries within the meaning of—

(i) Sections 158 and 158A of the Companies Act 1955, in relation to a body corporate registered under that Act; or

(ii) Sections 5 and 6 of the Companies Act 1993, in relation to any other body corporate; or

(b) All of them are subsidiaries (within the meaning of those sections) of one and the same body corporate.

What activities may be considered

20 The grant scheme is only available to those able to show that the goods/services they produce/provide already compete, or show potential to compete, in either domestic or international markets. This is confined to businesses/individuals who are selling or intending to sell in overseas markets and those selling in competition with imports.

21 Assistance is only available for legal activities.

22 Assistance is not available for activities which are directed at the Australian market; this is in line with NZ’s obligations under the Australia and New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (ANZCERTA).

Skills

23 To gain entry to the scheme applicants will have to satisfy their Board that they are at the stage where a grant is appropriate, ie that they wish to test or apply a skill that they have acquired or have had access to through either the programme’s business training/educative element or through some other means. The Board will base its decision on the appropriateness of the grant on the basis of the preliminary appraisal - which will clearly show the level of capability/skill—or it may waive this requirement if applicants are able to demonstrate their skill/capability level through some other means.

IV Payment of Claims

24 Claims against approved grants can be made any time after the grant has been accepted.

25 Grants are paid on a reimbursement basis.

26 The only basis on which claims will be paid out is:

(a) on matching receipts to original invoices; or

(b) on an accountant’s certification of costs paid; this must be from an independent accountant (ie not the applicant’s in-house accountant) in public practice and must match expenditure to the approved qualifying costs (the cost of obtaining such a certification is a qualifying cost of the Programme).

27 No other Government funds may be used for the balance of the costs funded under the Business Development Programme. Grants will be required to be repaid if this condition is breached.

V Approval Times and Extension Requests

28 Grant approval times should be for no more than one year from the date of approval.

29 Boards can consider requests for time extensions for grants if these have been received by Boards before the expiry date. Requests for time extensions should be approved in exceptional circumstances only with applicants outlining the circumstances outside their control which have led to the extension request. The maximum time available for extensions is six months.

Dated at Wellington this 6th day of December 1995.

ROGER F. H. MAXWELL, Minister of Business Development.

Explanatory Note

This note is not part of the notice, but is intended to indicate its general effect.

The effect of this notice is to introduce the Government’s new Business Development Programme. Business Development Boards are to administer the programme in accordance with the Code.

The Business Development Programme consists of the following components.

a An information component

b A business capability component comprising:

i a preliminary appraisal exercise;

ii a business training educative element;

iii a grant scheme;

iv Business Best Practice education and recognition initiatives including the Business Development Quality Awards.

c A regional co-operation component.

Provision of information

The Board shall endeavour to provide relevant and timely information for small to medium enterprises relating to the overall economic and regulatory environment, New Zealand’s trading activity and regional economy, techniques to improve business skills, and sources of advice and assistance for small to medium enterprises.

Business capability improvement

Preliminary business appraisal

Designed to identify individual and business capability/skill and performance levels at a given point in time. This component will focus on eight business capabilities: business planning, marketing, operations management, financial and information systems, organisation and human resource management, product design/research and development management, quality and environmental management.

The appraisal will be carried out by persons selected by the applicants. A grant of up to $500 (G.S.T. inclusive) may be provided. No grant will exceed 50% of the cost of the appraisal.

Business Training/Educative component

This will involve training/educative elements based on the skills/knowledge/capability gaps identified through the appraisal.