BID Newsletter

General Enquiries: Phone 1800 244 650 • Email: business.mailbox@act.gov.au

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Business and Industry Development (BID) would like to wish you a safe and Merry Christmas, and a happy and prosperous 2009.

Thank you to all of our business partners and clients for your support during 2008.

BUSINESS IN FOCUS MONTH (SEPTEMBER 2009)

The Chief Minister, Mr Jon Stanhope officially launched Business In Focus Month at a business function held at the Australian Leadership Innovation Centre in Barton on 16 December 2008.

Business In Focus Month is a new concept for the ACT to be held in September 2009. It will be a month-long program of events that will support and promote the Canberra business community. The program will be delivered in a partnership model by government and local business organisations and institutions. It will assist local business operators to build better businesses through a strong education component and by improving awareness of business information and available support services.

Further information will be available in the new year but in the meantime please feel to contact the event project manager:

ACT WINNER IN 2008 NATIONAL EXPORT AWARDS

As most readers would be aware, the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies at the University of Canberra picked up the National Education and Training Export Award at the National Awards function held in Melbourne on Friday 5 December. The National Export Awards are considered to be Australia’s most prestigious business awards program and have been running continuously for 46 years. This is only the second time in the history of the awards that the ACT has had a national category winner. Congratulations again to the Centre for Customs and Excise and all the other ACT finalists who competed for national category awards in Melbourne.

FOREIGN STUDENTS ENCOURAGED TO STICK AROUND

A new pilot program to link international students with local employers will commence shortly and is part of a suite of actions to target specific skill shortages.

The goal of the StudentConnect pilot program is to connect later year international students in Canberra to potential local employers.

The ACT attracts a significant number of international students to study at its tertiary institutions, but relatively few of these students end up working locally at the completion of their studies.

The pilot will match five students from each of the three institutions with suitable employers. Lessons learned will be used to develop more enduring partnerships and linkages with the business community and local tertiary institutions.

ACT TRADE MISSION TO MALAYSIA AND VIETNAM

The Chief Minister has announced that he will lead a 10-day trade and investment mission to Malaysia and Vietnam in the second half of April next year. The mission will be delivered in partnership with Austrade.

A marketing and recruitment program for the mission will begin early next year. However, any ACT businesses that would like to register interest can do so by contacting BID by phoning 6205 3051 or 6207 1641.

INNOVATION CONNECT

InnovationConnect (ICon) is an ACT Government grant program designed to provide creative innovators and entrepreneurs with funding support to accelerate the progress of viable, creative ideas along the development and commercialisation pathway.

The program has been designed to assist companies with early stage support in taking an innovative product or service to investment readiness or commercialisation.

Since October 2008, 11 Canberra companies have been awarded funding to accelerate product development and commercialisation strategies.

To obtain further information on InnovationConnect, visit the BID Website at: InnovationConnect.

DEVELOPING THE EDUCATION EXPORT SECTOR

As a follow up to the recent meeting convened by Minister Barr on high education industry development, BID is working through a Canberra Business Council convened Working Group to pursue some of the themes and issues emerging from the Minister's meeting. The group is exploring a number of initiatives such as joint marketing collateral development, a relaunch of the international student ambassadors program, sharing learning from the forthcoming Student Connect Program, and sharing market and industry intelligence from the exporters census project which is also about to commence.

LEVERAGING THE SHANGHAI WORD EXPO 2010

The Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is currently talking to each of the states and territories about business development opportunities from leveraged involvements in the Shanghai World Expo 2010. BID had a briefing from DFAT earlier this month on state specific opportunities, engagement models and sponsorship opportunities. The Shanghai World Expo will run from 1 May to 31 October 2010 and the Australian Government is constructing a major pavilion and permanent presence at the Expo to tell the ‘Australia’ story, consistent with the themes of the Shanghai Expo. There are significant opportunities for the states and territories and the business community generally to leverage this significant investment by the Australian Government.

UK TRADE OPPORTUNITIES

Austrade’s UK Business Development Director, Mr Amit Aggarwal, was in Canberra in early December and spoke to the Department regarding possible activities and opportunities in the UK region for ACT businesses. Discussion centred on the ongoing successes from the last ACT Government trade mission to the UK in 2005 and Austrade’s interest in supporting a return mission to the UK in the second half of 2009, or in 2010. BID will scope this as a forward option under the Government’s trade mission program.

REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AUSTRALIA AND THE CAPITAL REGION DEVELOPMENT BOARD

The Capital Region Development Board (CRDB), a body jointly funded by the NSW and ACT Governments, held its first meeting in Young on 15 December with its newly appointed membership group. Apart from CRDB’s ongoing project program, there was considerable interest in the Australian Government's recently announced Regional Development Australia (RDA) initiative which logically points to a merging of the CRDB and two regional Area Consultative Committees (ACC). The ACT Government is considering its options regarding joining with the NSW/Australian Government arrangements or pursuing a separate RDA model for the ACT.

COMMONWEALTH FUNDING ‘BUILDS’ OUR SKILLS

Canberra stands to benefit from Prime Minister Rudd’s announcement last week of new investments in higher educational facilities that will be delivered through the Infrastructure Fund.

The University of Canberra’s National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM), has been awarded $11 million for a purpose-built Microsimulation Centre. This state-of-the-art centre will allow NATSEM to be right at the cutting edge of econometric modelling in such areas as climate change and integrated transport.

The ACT Government also welcomes the Commonwealth’s investments in the ANU and CIT – an investment in the education and skills of Canberrans totalling $34.6 million.

WATER AND BUSINESS

BID has begun working with the ACT Government’s new Department of Environment, Climate Change, Energy and Water to look at coordination of water programs across government, noteably those relating to industry. Discussions have also been held with ACTEW on the potential inclusion of specific industry sectors in the revised Permanent Water Conservation Measures (PWCM), with some initial government support being considered to facilitate transition towards either industry best practice, benchmarking or volumetric guidelines.

FURTHER INFORMATION

For further information on any of the above news items, or to make an enquiry, please contact us by:

A full description of BID’s programs can be viewed at: www.business.act.gov.au

 

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