The Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology says a new job creation program is looking to replace the old EDGE program.

Government announced the new JAG program last week, which provides qualified companies with a payroll rebate of 10 per cent for each incremental job created. In return, the company has to agree to create at least 20 incremental jobs over a three-year period with a minimum average salary of $50,000.

Minister Andrew Parsons says over the last decade, the Economic Diversification and Growth Enterprises (EDGE) Program, which provides tax incentives to encourage business development, has seen little interested. He says the new program is a replacement.

He says EDGE is not legislatively removed yet, but that process is coming. He says they have only had one successful applicant over the past decade, but he expects the new program will have much more interest where it is a payroll rebate and not a tax rebate.