Regional Development Minister Shane Jones is now taking applications from iwi, councils, businesses, and community organisations that want to fund projects that align with their region’s infrastructure priorities.
The Regional Infrastructure Fund, or RIF, is part of what Minister Jones calls the government’s focus on growing the economy.
“We are doing everything we can to enable an export-led recovery, regional prosperity, and jobs.
“The RIF will look for investment and co-investment projects that support the priorities of the regions themselves.
“We want to invest where it counts. That’s why RIF investments will align with these regional priorities, ensure there is regional co-investment and, where possible, leverage existing regional development investments,” Jones wrote.
The RIF, launched today, aims to advance regions by focusing on two key investment areas: resilience infrastructure, which enhances regions’ ability to absorb and adapt to stresses, and enabling infrastructure, which supports growth by ensuring regions are well-connected and productive.
It is primarily a capital fund. Funding support will be provided through a mix of loan and equity investments, with grants available in only a few instances.
“The RIF, which was agreed in the New Zealand First-National Coalition Agreement, is another positive step from the Government to support our regions to be places of opportunity, innovation, growth and resilience,” he said.
In this year’s Budget, Jones announced the first projects to be funded through the RIF would be an initial $200 million for flood resilience infrastructure.
Since then, $101.1m, along with co-investment from recipients, has been committed to 42 flood resilience projects which are nearly ready to start.
The projects were identified by local authorities in the Before the Deluge 2.0 report and meet the RIF criteria.
Iwi, councils, businesses, and community organisations can check their eligibility criteria and how to apply for the investment on the Grow Regions website.