The NSW manufacturing sector will work with the NSW Government to drive improved industry/research collaboration, ease the regulatory load and create opportunities for SME to bid for billions of dollars’ worth of government procurement.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Stoner said the final report of the NSW Manufacturing Industry Taskforce identified more than 57 actions for industry and government to sustain existing capacity and capabilities, and position the sector for competitiveness and growth over the next 10 years.
“There’s no question our manufacturing sector faces significant ongoing challenges including the high Australian dollar, rising input costs, skills shortages and outdated perceptions of the sector affecting the employment pipeline,” Mr Stoner said.
“It’s also true that elements of the NSW manufacturing sector are globally competitive and among the most advanced in the world – the sector has shown impressive adaptability and resilience to remain a significant economic asset to the state.”
Andrew King, chair of the NSW Manufacturing Taskforce and associate of Capstone Partners, said a continued reliance on the techniques and practices of the past will fail to deliver the innovation required for the sector to remain globally competitive.
“NSW manufacturing companies need to adapt, innovate and collaborate to develop new competitive strengths – failure to adapt will threaten capacity and hard-to-recapture capabilities leaving the NSW economy exposed to a reduced contribution from this vital sector,” Mr King said.
“Firms need to focus on building the capabilities of manufacturing managers, improving collaboration with the research sector, and leveraging NSW’s world-class creative and design sectors to adopt design-led approaches to innovation. The leadership of business owners and CEO in this endeavour is essential, as is the proactive encouragement and support of government.
“The taskforce also identified significant opportunity for the NSW Government to leverage its $12.7 billion procurement spend as well as taking action to improve the planning and regulatory frameworks, to make it easier to do business and remove impediments to growth,” Mr King said.
Mr Stoner said the NSW Government will pursue the following priority actions with the manufacturing sector over the next 12 months:
Introduce Innovate NSW, a new initiative to support deeper collaboration to address the state’s key challenges and opportunities. Deliver the Quality Regulatory Services Initiative to save businesses and the broader community time by enabling them to apply and pay for licences online. Further improve government procurement processes, building on the removal of the contract management fee, by relieving businesses of onerous reporting, remittance, and auditing procedures. Continue to help build industry capability and exports by SME by facilitating their integration into global supply chains. Raise the profile of industry and government’s understanding of the value that the modern NSW manufacturing industry provides to the state’s economy. Implement key actions of the Better Value Infrastructure Plan, such as the publishing of an infrastructure pipeline and improving industry collaboration. Deliver the ‘Bridging the Gap’ program, bringing companies and universities together around specific industry challenges. Support the development of knowledge hubs, through a focus on existing industry concentrations and developing actions to build stronger industry clusters. Enable SME to directly raise specific issues of undue regulatory burden through an assistance line run by the Office of the NSW Small Business Commissioner.
“The NSW Government’s response to the final Industry Action Plans for Manufacturing, Professional Services, International Education and Research and the Digital Economy offers a roadmap to tackle economic challenges and seize opportunities over the next decade,” Mr Stoner said.
“The NSW Government’s top priority is to restore economic growth and establish NSW as the first place inAustraliato do business.
“That’s why we established expert industry taskforces to develop action plans for our priority sectors and recommend actions for government and industry to drive growth over the next ten years.
“An overriding message from the taskforces’ work is the need for greater coordination across government to make it easier to do business in NSW.
“The centrepiece of the NSW Government’s response is a new framework underpinning economic development in our State and immediate actions government and industry will take to address the priority issues highlighted by the taskforces,” Mr Stoner said.