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Developers and Investors
Perth: Boom Capital of Australia
Perth is the capital city of Western Australia, the fastest growing state in Australia, with world-class facilities and infrastructure, plus excellent business and investment opportunities.
It has a growing creative and knowledge-based economy, thriving in a politically stable and secure environment. The city offers a multilingual and multicultural environment, as well as pristine beaches, stunning landscapes and popular outdoor activities. Perth is ideally located as a regional base to service the growing economies and large populations of the Asia Pacific Rim, with similar time zones and short travel times to many Asian countries.
Western Australia's domestic economy grew at 14 per cent in the June quarter 2006 higher than China's growth rate of 11.3 per cent and higher than Australia’s GDP growth of 2.3%
Perth is recognised as being one of the best cities in the world to live and work. In 2005, the Economist Magazine ranked Perth one of the top five liveable cities in the world.
As the State capital of resource-rich Western Australia (WA), Perth is also the major centre for the energy and resources industry in the Asia Pacific region.
Location
Located on Australia’s southwest coast, metropolitan Perth covers over 5,000 square km and is home to 1.5 million people (WA state population: 2 million). The State’s total area is a staggering 2.5 million square km (965,255 sq miles), making up nearly one third of Australia’s total land mass; and is approximately 3.5 times the size of Texas.
Population
With just 10 percent of Australia’s population, WA contributes nearly one third of national export earnings and boasts the lowest unemployment level in the country (4.1 percent compared to the national average of 5.0 percent). It’s export earnings are more than that of New South Wales and Victoria combined (as at August 2006).
International Markets
Western Australia has strong links to the economies of Asia - especially Japan, China, Korea and India. Major exports include: iron ore, gold, natural gas, copper, aluminium, petroleum products, and wheat.
Business Confidence
Business investment in Western Australia grew by 51% over the past 12 months, which is an extremely positive sign of business confidence for the future. As a result Western Australia accounts for nearly 20% of all major Australian investment projects under construction (Source: Department of Treasury and Finance, Aug 2006).
Major infrastructure projects underway or scheduled to take place in Western Australia include:
AUD$5.8 billion worth of oil and gas projects in the North West of the WA by the likes of BHP Billiton, Woodside, Chevron Texaco, BP and Shell;
And AUD$3.8 billion on new iron ore projects.
And there is an additional AUD$38.5 billion private sector projects under consideration across WA (Source: Department of Treasury and Finance, Aug 2006).
Research and Development
Perth is recognised as a key regional hub for the knowledge industries and is home to major research and development facilities. Given its major status in the resources industry, Perth is the nation’s centre for minerals and energy R&D. In August 2006 Chevron announced that it was establishing one of two global research centres in Perth.
This will be a welcome addition to Perth alongside key research establishments by corporate giants Motorola and IBM, and the estimated 500 additional research organisations operating in our city developing the products and services of tomorrow (Source: Department of Industry and Resources 2006).
Creative City
The City of Perth as an entity, takes a leading role in the development of Western Australian industry. It is working with the State government to measure the contribution of the creative industries to the Western Australian economy. The creative industries include fashion and jewellery design, architecture, film and television, music and software design.
The Western Australian government’s renewed focus on innovation will enable creative industry companies to continue developing exciting new products that has already put Perth fashion on the catwalks of London and Milan, and its oil and gas technology in Europe’s North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
