Prime Minister John Key was talking up the regions as a place to do business when he visited Marton on Tuesday.
One of his stops was at the Speirs Foods factory in Marton which processes and packs a variety of salads for the country's leading supermarket chains.
Talking to some of the 75 staff at the plant, Mr Key was asked what pointers he had to improve the economic lot of places like the Rangitikei.
He said while tourism and agricultural opportunities existed he said it was a matter of enticing businesses to relocate into regional New Zealand.
"What works in the regions is the fact house prices are much cheaper and staff tend to be much more stable and not prone to moving around," he said,