"I am pleased to announce that Industry New Zealand has allocated $135,000 to Manawatu for the first two rounds of the Regional Partnership Programme," said the Minister for Regional Development Jim Anderton.

"I know that in the Manawatu the money will be well allocated and there will be a significant return to local people through the Regional Partnerships Programme, led in this region by Vision Manawatu which is the lead agency in the partnership.

"The ideas that each plan needs have to come from local people committed to making their regional economy work. In Manawatu many people have been involved and local groups, councils and iwi have been part of the process," said Jim Anderton.

Other regions to receive funding from Industry New Zealand announced today are Canterbury $200,000, Southland, the Eastern Bay of Plenty and Hawkes Bay $100,000 each. Rotorua will receive $133,000. Wellington will receive $70,000 and the Wairarapa $82,500.

The partnership grants can be up to $100,000 for the regional plans and up to $100,000 for making sure the plans can be implemented (capacity building). Funding of up to $2 million per region is available to contribute to major regional initiatives that come out of the strategies developed in the first two stages.

Fourteen regions have secured grants in the previous three rounds amounting to $1,300,000. This round sees the total committed increase to $2,220,500 for 19 regional partnerships.

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