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Government invests in food industry

Food and agribusiness and advanced manufacturing have been identified as priority areas in the government’s Industry Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda.

The government announced in the report that it intends to create Industry Growth Centres in five promising industries (including food and agribusiness and advanced manufacturing), at a cost of $188.5 million over four years.

 The centres will aim to enable businesses to self-select and grow, by removing impediments and unlocking potential at the industry level. They will encourage organisations to work closely together to unlock commercial opportunities and reduce risk.

They will also encourage businesses to form commercial research and development partnerships with each other, and with the research sector.

The report said that a food and agribusiness Industry Growth Centre could help small and medium food processing businesses in the following ways:

  • Allow them to research Asian consumer preferences about taste, texture and packaging.
  • Food scientists would help them to develop the desired product characteristics.
  • Provide them with specialist advice on intellectual property protection, marketing and exporting in differing Asian markets.
  • Work to improve the efficiency of the regulatory framework, while ensuring it maintains and supports Australia’s reputation for safe food production.

Subject to quality of the expressions of interest, the remaining three industries with centres will be: mining equipment, technology and services; oil, gas and energy resources and medical technologies and pharmaceuticals.

The food and agribusiness industry will also be one of the priority areas for the Industry Skills Fund.

According to the Industry Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda, the fund will “support the training needs of small to medium enterprises not readily met by the national training system.”

Larger companies may apply to access the fund, but will be expected to make contributions towards the cost of training.

The government has also established a $50 million Manufacturing Transition Programme in order to assist Australian manufacturers shift to higher value activities and improve competitiveness. The programme offers grants for manufacturers that invest in projects to expand or transition into higher value or knowledge based manufacturing activities. 

 

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