Date: 2008-04-24
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A new study shows that Tropical North Queensland has the potential to be a major global player in the growing area of ‘tropical expertise’. Tourism, Regional Development and Industry Minister Desley Boyle, also the Member for Cairns, said the Queensland Government recently commissioned an independent study of the region’s tropical expertise sector.
(Media-Newswire.com) - A new study shows that Tropical North Queensland has the potential to be a major global player in the growing area of ‘tropical expertise’.
Tourism, Regional Development and Industry Minister Desley Boyle, also the Member for Cairns, said the Queensland Government recently commissioned an independent study of the region’s tropical expertise sector.
“This is about building knowledge-based industries in the region – about Cairns and the Far North being part of the Smart State revolution," Ms Boyle said.
“About half the world’s population lives in the tropics so there is a desperate need for knowledge in doing business and living in tropical areas.
“There is no region in the world better equipped or experienced than Cairns and Tropical North Queensland to be an international leader in research and development in the area.
“Areas of Tropical expertise in most demand include tourism, eco and urban planning, disaster management, water processing and waste management, horticulture and forestry, tropical disease management, to produce and gourmet foods manufacturing and processing.
“This is an amazing opportunity for the people, businesses and governments of the tropics to turn the knowledge we have acquired from everyday living into a multi-million dollar earner,” she said.
Ms Boyle said a 2007 study commissioned by the Queensland Government highlighted considerable opportunities for the region from tropical environmental, reef, rainforest and fishery management as well as tropical agriculture and urban design.
“As a Government we realised that the region had potential but we wanted to assess the sectors competitive strengths and opportunities as well as its weaknesses – the type of intelligence that will help us build up the industry,” she said.
The AEC Group study found that the region’s tropical expertise businesses were worth about $160 million last financial year, with the sector employing over 700 people full-time and with tropical manufacturing and processing, tropical living and tropical environmental management having the highest average annual turnover.
Most businesses are located in Cairns and the average annual turnover is $2.6 million with about $600,000 attributed directly to tropical expertise.
“Close to 40 percent of what the sector produces is sold to local markets, with the remainder being exported to buyers outside of the region, including about 20 percent overseas.
“The AEC Study found that there is enormous growth potential for the sector with higher prices and increasing demand, especially in the Australian domestic, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern markets, expected in the next three to five years,” she said.
She said the sector had a number of advantages including the region’s proximity to the lucrative Asia-Pacific markets as well as a high level of experienced staff with an immense amount of knowledge based on years of working in a tropical environment.
“The sector in North Queensland has an excellent reputation for the quality of its products and services and the region has a good representation of locally based international businesses which aid in the strengthening of international business partnerships but also offer the opportunity for networking and business support.”
Ms Boyle said the study identified uncertainty relating to climate change, the availability of skilled labour and the economic growth cycle as the top three challenges for the local industry.
Ms Boyle said the AEC Study grew out of a new phase in the Smart State Strategy designed to strengthen the State and regional economies.
“In Cairns and Far North Queensland tropical expertise joins aviation and the marine industry as key economic development areas,” Ms Boyle said.
“The recent opening of the Australian Tropical Forest Institute at James Cook University in Cairns was a major boost to the sector providing an important local research and development base that would feed into the local industry.”
A Steering Committee of key stakeholders, including James Cook University, the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Advance Cairns and the private sector, provided insight, advice and support to the AEC Group for the study.
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