WELLINGTON, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand officially started the Fast-track Approvals regime on Friday to cut the red tape and make it quicker and easier to build the projects New Zealand needs to grow its economy.

"The new Act helps cut through the thicket of red and green tape and the jumble of approval processes that has, until now, held New Zealand back from much-needed economic growth," Infrastructure and RMA (Resource Management Act) Reform Minister Chris Bishop said.

The Fast-track Approvals Act, signed into law in December, allows project applications start from Friday under the fast-track one-stop shop approval regime, aiming to sort out New Zealand's infrastructure deficit, housing crisis, and energy shortage, "instead of tying essential projects up in knots for years at a time," Bishop said.

The Fast-track Approvals Act lists 149 projects with significant national or regional benefits, spanning housing, renewable energy, transport, mining, quarrying, and the primary sector, said Regional Development Minister Shane Jones.

Expert panels have been established to consider project applications, facilitated by the Environmental Protection Authority. Enditem

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