Australia’s leader in wine, South Australia offers investment opportunities in many key clusters.

	Area:	984,377 sq km
	Population:	1,502,400
	as % of total:	7.7%
	Capital:	Adelaide (population 1.1m)
	Gross State Product:	A$41.63bn (2000/2001)
	as % of total:	6.4%
	State Final Demand:	A$44.51bn
	SFD growth:	4.8% (2001)
	Credit rating (S&P):	AA+
	Average weekly earnings:	A$644.50 (08/2001)
	Unemployment rate:	7.2%

Internationally renowned for its wines, South Australia is also becoming known for its innovation and dynamic development. Attracting national and international investment in all areas of industry, South Australia also has a highly developed portfolio of industry clusters, including automotive, defence, information and communication technology, and wine. It is the country’s manufacturing centre for the automobile industry and defence research, and leads the country in laser technology, silicon chip design and medical research.

The state’s economy is also boosted by its underground natural resources, from which the mining industry has long harvested rich resources of opals, coal, uranium, copper, gold and gas.

Logistics junction
Australia’s third largest state by area, South Australia’s political and social stability is coupled with thriving commerce and industry sectors, and an enviable lifestyle.

The junction of Australia’s road, rail and air corridors, South Australia’s economy has grown from its traditional rural and manufacturing base into a diverse trading region. South Australia offers a strategic location within the Asia-Pacific region. Well-developed industries, a highly skilled and flexible workforce, first-class infrastructure and a low-cost yet superb quality of living all combine to make the state an ideal investment choice.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers report
South Australia’s competitive case is based on a comprehensive study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, benchmarking land and property, utilities, transport and communications, supply inputs, labour, business environment, education and training, and quality of life against 13 cities in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. The report concluded that South Australia has strong competitive advantages over other Australian states and internationally, with outstanding strengths in areas such as land costs, telecommunications, property rental, education and quality of life.

It highlighted major strengths:

• a strategic location on the Asia-Pacific rim;
  
• well-developed modern industry;
  
• competitive business costs;
  
• an advanced research and development base;
  
• a highly skilled and productive workforce;
  
• strong collaboration between industry, government and community leaders; and high-quality living.

Wine leader
South Australia is the centre of the Australian wine industry, producing about half of the nation’s wine and 70% of its exports.

The opening of the A$30m Barossa water project in December last year will deliver major benefits to grape growers and local residents. The project will open up new areas for grape growing, allowing growers to water their vineyards when rainfall is low. Up to 3000 extra jobs are expected to be created by 2016, with the project already resulting in millions of dollars of new plantings.

The wine industry is one of the state’s biggest success stories. It is now South Australia’s biggest manufactured export item with more than 800,000 bottles of wine exported out of the state each day. South Australian wine exports are now ten times what they were a decade ago, valued at A$1bn a year.

Information technology
The World Congress on Information Technology was held in Adelaide in March 2002, providing a showcase for South Australia’s ICT base as one of the fastest growing in Australia. Adelaide has world-class telecommunications services: satellite and cable networks that are ideal for regional hubbing; local and international calls among the cheapest in Asia; advanced IT capacity and a strong local IT industry; and a sophisticated IT infrastructure. High-capacity optical fibre systems converge in the city from the north, west and east of Australia, with less competing traffic than in larger cities such as Sydney and Melbourne. In addition, Adelaide has the largest internet communications centre in the Southern Hemisphere.

The burgeoning information technology and telecommunications sector comprises more than 1000 firms delivering world-class electronics, software, telecommunications and internet-related products and services.

The state’s electronics industry has a reputation for innovation and design excellence at the high technology and high value-added end of the market. Strong annual growth of about 20% has seen the industry move from a revenue base of A$310m to A$2.1bn in just 10 years. The sector is highly export-focused with one-third of total output sold overseas – well-developed links have been established with markets in Asia, North America and Europe.

Infrastructure
First-class physical infrastructure includes efficient and easily accessible road, rail, sea and air networks. Port Adelaide is Australia’s most efficient port, processing more than 10,000 containers a month. Its container terminal has the highest crane rate and lowest interface port costs in Australia. More than 13m tonnes of cargo move through the state’s seven ports annually – half through Port Adelaide.

Adelaide International Airport is just 15 minutes drive from the city’s central business district and is serviced by six international airlines offering non-stop flights to key Asia-Pacific hubs. A new extended international runway was opened in 1998, allowing direct flights from Adelaide to key trading centres in northern Asia. Adelaide airport offers domestic flights to all Australian capital cities, including 25 flights to Sydney and 18 flights to Melbourne daily.

Other opportunities
Food and beverages. South Australia’s food and beverage sector offers many growth and niche opportunities for investors, with trading revenues expected to triple to A$15bn by 2010. Food is the state’s largest export earner at A$3bn a year. An unpolluted environment, efficient transport and advanced technology have given the state an edge in wine, seafood, fruit, cereals and dairy products.

Defence. South Australia has always been at the centre of Australia’s defence industry effort. Major facilities include the Australian Government’s Defence Science and Technology Organisation complex at Salisbury, the Port Adelaide construction site for conventionally powered submarines, and the 127,000km2 test and evaluation facility at the outback Woomera Rocket Range. In Adelaide, more than 20 government agencies and more than 40 South Australian-based companies comprise a strong cluster of defence industry capabilities. The state wins more than 30% of the Australian content of capital expenditure on defence.

Automotive production. This is South Australia’s largest manufacturing sector, and employs 15,000 people in the state. Up to 50 component manufacturers supply Mitsubishi and Holden, which together produce 172,000 vehicles annually – half the national total. South Australian automotive exports in 2000/2001 reached A$1.4bn, almost 25% of Australia’s total.

Conventions. The Adelaide Convention Centre (ACC) is one of the world’s top 10 meeting venues and contributes A$1bn to the state’s economy annually through its functions and delegates’ activities. The ACC has recently expanded its capacity from 2500 to 5000 delegates.
Tourism. The South Australian tourism industry attracts 6m visitors each year. It contributes more than A$3bn to the state economy annually, supporting 36,000 jobs.

Minerals and energy. Rich in mineral and energy resources including base and precious metals, iron ore, uranium, coal and petroleum, SA has one of the world’s largest lead-zinc smelters, Australia’s largest on-shore oil and gas resources, and major deposits of opal and jade.

Emerging industries. South Australia has a number of emerging industries and technologies including nanotechnology, intelligent transport systems, photonics, environmental management, materials technology and spatial information systems.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers’ report (see above) also highlighted the following advantages.

Business climate. As well as lower taxes and charges, the state offers government assistance to potential investors, including fast-tracking of major projects. There is extensive cooperation between government and industry at all levels.

Management and labour costs. The state has a highly educated, multilingual and skilled workforce, nationally competitive labour and management costs, low on-costs, enterprise agreements in place and cost-competitive professional services.

Construction advantages. Well-located, inexpensive industrial land is highly cost-competitive, and has an average 3.5-month planning and building approval time. Building completion costs are among the lowest of any advanced industrial country.

Factory and office rental. South Australia has among the lowest commercial rents in Australia.

Living costs and lifestyle. Adelaide is the most affordable Australian capital city in which to live; its living costs are very competitive with locations such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Jakarta.

The Department of Industry and Trade is the key body for potential investors. South Australia maintains offices and commercial representatives in the UK, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Dubai.

Websites:
www.business.sa.gov.au
www.sacentral.sa.gov.au
www.callcentre-sa.com
www.defence-sa.com
www.electronics-sa.com
www.food.sa.gov.au
www.health-sa.net.au
www.it-southaustralia.com.au