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Waikato

The Waikato economy is founded on farming and food production. It is complimented by strong manufacturing industries in light metals, stainless steel, aviation and health alongside employment in retail, hospitality and business services.

Four Crown Research Institutions and private science organisations in the region represent 25 percent of New Zealand’s scientific research capability. And four tertiary education institutions operate with distributed campuses throughout the region.

The Regional Strategy Fund is administered by Environment Waikato, while Hamilton City Council’s Opportunity Hamilton provides strong leadership and funding for city economic development initiatives. New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) provides Major Regional Initiative funding in the Waikato region for:

the Waikato Innovation Park technology commercialisation centre, specialising in Agri and Bio Technologies;
the New Zealand Clean Energy Centre, which promotes the use of bio-energy and the direct use of geothermal energy by local industry
the Aviation Waikato cluster, which participates in aircraft manufacturing and pilot training
the Taupo Motorsport Park, which hosts both national and international motorsport events
the Waihi New Zealand Heart of Gold tourism initiative, based on Coromandel’s mining and industrial heritage
Aquaculture Coromandel in the North Island- the centre for the expansion of Aquaculture in the region.

NZTE helped to establish the lean cluster groups; heavy engineering, food/agritech, engineering, niche manufacturing and services, which are now self managing.