April 2009

• Information for small to medium enterprises interested in accessing the supply chains related to Rugby World Cup 2011
• Information on the tournament and its organisers, match locations, visitor demographics and projected direct economic impact for Auckland
• Information on the types of commercial opportunities that exist around the event including opportunities for Maori and Pacific Island enterprises. Opportunities will include supplying goods and services as a contractor, becoming a sub-contractor, supplying the wider RWC family (tournament sponsors, host cities, broadcasters, corporate hospitality providers, participating rugby nations and their sponsors, etc)
• Business advice on how to incorporate RWC 2011 into business strategies and plans
• A checklist to capitalise on the opportunities
• Training tips including links to specific training courses and skills development opportunities.

"AucklandPlus will be working with tournament organisers to make sure the guide provides up-to-date and accurate information on the commercial opportunities. It will be updated regularly," Mr Barnett says.

Mr Barnett says while RWC 2011 is a national event, with a total of 12 matches including the opening match, semi finals and final, Auckland will clearly be the hub of the tournament.

"To me it all adds up to an unprecedented opportunity for Auckland. When I look at the current economic climate, it is clearly an opportunity we cannot afford to miss. But I believe that with the match allocation we have and the size and scope of our business sector, Auckland is well placed to realise the economic potential of this mega event."

Mr Barnett says future facets of Auckland's RWC 2011 economic development programme, which is being led by AucklandPlus, will focus on developing international linkages, more work on creating opportunities for business and building skills and talent.

See the Business Opportunities Guide at www.auckland2011.com/business

RWC 2011 Starts and finishes in Auckland

The recent RWC 2011 match allocation announcement from Rugby New Zealand 2001 Ltd confirmed that Auckland will be the hub of the tournament.

As well as the semi finals, final and bronze final which Auckland had already secured, Auckland has been selected to host the opening match and seven other pool matches - many of them absolute blockbusters. The world will get a taste of Auckland's unique Pacific flavour when the tournament kicks off with the All Blacks versus Tonga on September 9, 2011 - less than 900 days away. That means in pool play alone, Auckland will play host to the All Blacks, current World Cup holders South Africa, 2009 Six Nations Champions Ireland, France, Australia, England, Scotland, Tonga, Fiji and in all likelihood Samoa and Japan who are expected to qualify for the tournament.

Auckland will also host an opening event which will extend beyond the boundaries of Eden Park to showcase the region and its people. That in itself will be a global broadcast opportunity.

To find out more about the match and team allocation and Auckland's preparations for RWC 2011 visit www.auckland2011.com

A boost for Bioscience in Auckland

A regional approach and vision for Bioscience could provide just the tonic to give the Auckland economy that extra boost.

A group of local, regional and national industry representatives have come together to develop a collaborative 10 year strategy for Bioscience in the Auckland region. Tasked with creating a vision and bold action plan for the growth of a prosperous biotechnology sector, the outcomes of the plan have a targeted delivery date of 2019.

The group aim to set the stage for the Bioscience sector to accelerate economic growth, job creation and inward investment for the Auckland region. Science, people, infrastructure and money have been identified as the core areas of focus. Ultimately the outcome of the plan is for Auckland to be internationally recognised as a hub of excellence in bioscience.

The NZ Bio Conference held in March inspired the vision and elements of the regional plan and the visit by Alan May, CEO Life Science Angel Association in the US, has enabled the group to incorporate international perspectives into the plan.

For more information please contact delwyn.corin@aucklandplus.com

Auckland Marine Industry 2020 Vision

The great response to a recent marine industry workshop has laid a solid foundation for the development of a comprehensive study of the Auckland marine industry.

AucklandPlus hosted the workshop in partnership with the Marine Industry Association for key marine industry stakeholders.

The session attracted 75 participants from throughout the industry and much of the content was focused on developing a 2020 plan for the sector. Ably hosted by Paul Gordon from Catalyze, the event also featured an inspiring review of current global trends and what that means for NZ, delivered by Guest speaker Rod Oram.

Having recognised the huge growth potential for the Auckland marine industry, the outputs of the study aim to have the marine sector working together towards achieving a projected revenue growth of $2 billion by 2020. This requires the development of a robust action plan to progress the vision and particular attention will be given to the removal of any barriers that could impinge on realising these growth opportunities.

For more information, visit the marine sector page on the AucklandPlus website, or contact Katie Taylor at AucklandPlus: katie.taylor@aucklandplus.com

Second Plato group launched

PLATO phase two is underway with a new group of participants.

To kick off this phase of the international business mentoring programme, new participants recently gathered together to launch their PLATO adventure with a lively evening of speed networking and familiarisation.

Following hot on the heels of the first group, new participants will benefit from expert advice and peer support alongside a comprehensive training and mentoring programme. Hosted by facilitators from successful NZ corporate organisations, participants will gain practical information and insights into new and innovative ways of doing business.

Ranging vastly in their sector of origin, the new group includes representatives from the dental, medical and natural health sectors, as well as the computing, web development and building sectors.

For more information, visit www.plato.org.nz or contact Katie Taylor at AucklandPlus: katie.taylor@aucklandplus.com

Tourism Industry Snapshot

Concise and relevant data on our tourism industry is now available in a new report which presents a snapshot of the sector in Auckland. The Auckland Regional Council snapshot report uses the most up-to-date, available data to provide a comprehensive picture of Auckland's tourism sector.

Click here to check out the full report

Tapert lauds Auckland screen production facility

Rob Tapert has heaped praise on the newly developed sound stage at Henderson Valley Studios where he is filming the epic fantasy series Legend of the Seeker. The series has screened in the United States since November and premiered on New Zealand television this week. Rob Tapert was also the man behind the internationally successful Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The legendary Journeys.

"As a long time user of Henderson Valley Studios, the addition of Studio 5 moves the facility from a series of tin sheds to a modern day facility," he says. "It has enabled myself and others to bring productions that would have gone to other locations around the world back to New Zealand." Studio 5 opened in 2007 and proved immediately successful. It has provided a significant boost to Auckland's screen production industry.

AucklandPlus Group Manager Clyde Rogers says the new studio benefited from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise funding as part of an Auckland Major Regional Initiative (MRI).

"It is great to see the immediate benefits of the new studio. It demonstrates the potential return on investing in quality infrastructure for the screen production industry," he says.

Film Auckland's "Green Book" a hit

Film Auckland's comprehensive guide to regulations affecting filming in the Auckland Region: The Green Book, is proving a big hit in the screen production industry.

Executive Manager Michael Brook reports that more than 100 people have already downloaded the guide in the three weeks it has been online.

The Green Book summarises the regulatory requirements affecting filmmaking in areas covered by all Auckland councils as well as the Department of Conservation (DOC) and other bodies such as Civil Aviation and the NZ Transport Authority (NZTA).

Film Auckland's ultimate aim is to have a consistent regulatory environment and it sees the compilation of regulations from all agencies in the one document as the first step in achieving this. The Green Book will be regularly updated to reflect changes as they occur.

Check out the guide at www.filmauckland.com