Regional and rural businesses and communities in the state’s mid to north-west are expected to benefit from increased trade opportunities following the launch of the Carnarvon Export Hub in the Gascoyne and Pilbara regions.
Regional and rural businesses and communities in the state’s mid to north-west are expected to benefit from increased trade opportunities following the launch of the Carnarvon Export Hub in the Gascoyne and Pilbara regions.
The Carnarvon Hub is one of eight export hubs to be located in various centres across regional and rural Australia.
The hub will unite two government initiatives, TradeStart and AusIndustry, enabling local businesses to access the services of both agencies in a single location.
About $6.4 million will be spent over five years to complete the initiative.
The hub will assist businesses with export potential across a broad range of industries including food, agribusiness, industrial and mining products and services, Indigenous arts and crafts and tourism services.
Federal Member for Kalgoorlie Barry Haase, who helped launch the hub, said non-metropolitan Australia generated about half of Australia’s export revenue and employed more than one-third of the nation’s workforce.
“In regional Australia, revenue from exporting is growing at a rate three times faster than that of metropolitan areas,” he said.
“Since July 2004, Austrade and TradeStart have helped 438 WA businesses to make an export sale.
“Of these companies, 35 from the Gascoyne and Pilbara area gained business development opportunities, with nine receiving support under the New Export Development program.
“The TradeStart office also hosted visits from three Austrade trade commissioners and worked to help local businesses meet or make contact with visiting buyers, generating numerous export opportunities.”
Carnarvon horticulturalist Margaret Day said she had already given the hub a project to work on.
“I was in England a couple of weeks ago and I was in Sainsbury’s shopping for pumpkins to make pumpkin soup for the relatives,” she said.
“They only had butternut pumpkins from New Zealand and at an outrageous price [equivalent of $6.80 a kilo].
“I thought that we should make contact with them because I think there could be a window of opportunity.”
It makes sense, according to Ms Day, who said WA was at least 10 days closer (travelling time) than New Zealand.
Ms Day said the benefits of the hub would come from them making direct contact with people at Sainsbury’s and finding out the costs of exporting from Fremantle.
“We have to jump through a million hoops to find out this information so the hub will help with the windows of opportunity that come up,” she said.
Other export hub locations are Darwin, Ballarat, Bundaberg, Bega, Port August and Tweed Heads.
