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The food-manufacturing sector requires urgent action from government if it is to remain viable in the future, according to industry representatives at the WA Business News forum.

Ambitious plans for two new apartment projects in North Fremantle will have to be substantially revised, after a height study commissioned by the City of Fremantle found the developments would not produce a desirable outcome.

The growing dominance of the major supermarket chains has had a significant effect on Western Australian food producers.

Briefcase would like to take this opportunity to set the scene for the 2009 financial year.

Drought in much of the country and rising commodity prices will ratchet up the pressure on the state's food manufacturing industry, the WA Business News forum heard.

Research and treatment of Alzheimer's disease is due to get a boost on two fronts, with a new charitable foundation to be launched this month and a second foundation commencing a $10 million fund raising campaign.

Changing diets in the world's emerging economies and global food security issues could potentially present the local food industry with a wealth of opportunities.

Taking over one of Perth's most popular eateries in the middle of the economic boom is among the biggest challenges Albasio La Pegna, the man who brought Funtastico to Subiaco, can recall during his 25-year career.

The food industry has questioned the effectiveness of the Department of Agriculture and Food's latest marketing campaign to encourage consumers to buy locally made products.

The availability of high-quality black truffles so close to Perth has led many Perth chefs to include the black fungi in their menus, while the season is on.

It's a curious thing when a company sheds some light onto its commercial dramas - sometimes the problem fixes itself under the glare of the spotlight.

Canning Vale-based food manufacturer Chrystal Foods is one of the latest local food businesses to be bought out by a large national company.

Anna Moreau chats with Ted Snell, Curtin University Dean of Arts

A Perth sustainability expert believes the potential business opportunities created under an emissions trading scheme (ETS) would outweigh the risk of crippling Australia's economy.

While indigenous artworks represent a small, but growing, part of the overall Australian art scene, an international tour planned for works by a group of Western Australian artists further cements the strong demand from overseas galleries and investors.

Engineering company Ausenco Ltd will provide West Perth-based Equinox Minerals Ltd with $8 million in additional costs following a fire at the Lumwana copper project in Zambia.

Western Areas NL said it is on track to produce more than 14,000 tonnes of nickel next year at low cash costs after posting a positive June quarterly report.

Construction industry hopes have suffered a blow, with Master Builders Australia's national survey revealing the fourth consecutive fall in builder sentiment in the June quarter.

Perth engineering company Macmahon Holdings Ltd has formed a new Aboriginal contracting business as it decides whether to extend its takeover offer period for Ausdrill Ltd.

Perth-based Bankwest has become the latest bank to lift its standard variable home loan rate, increasing it by 0.2 per cent to 9.55 per cent.

Sinosteel is within reach of taking out a controlling stake in takeover target Midwest Corporation Ltd, increasing its interest today to 47.14 per cent after some Midwest directors decided to sell their stake to the steelmaker.

Balkans Gold Ltd plans to raise $3.2 million via a non-renounceable pro rata rights issue to help fund its acquisition of West African Resources Ltd and ongoing exploration programs.

West Perth-based African Energy Resources (Guernsey) Ltd and partner Albidon Ltd have elected to proceed with a bankable feasibility study over an African uranium project after a previous analysis pegged total capital costs at $93 million.

The Liberal party has today released a blueprint for a state energy policy focusing on the gas sector while the Chamber of Commerce and Industry said any such policy needed to be fully costed to ensure the best outcome is achieved.

Richfield Group Ltd and PharmAust Ltd have become the latest Western Australian companies to reveal their exposure to the affairs of besieged financial services provider Chimaera Capital Ltd.

Perth-based IT services provider ASG Group Ltd has forecast a 44 per cent increase in earnings for the 2008 financial year on the back of securing a number of government and corporate contracts.

Perth-based GRD Ltd has been awarded a contract by Rio Tinto to carry out order of magnitude studies on the Sulawesi nickel project in Indonesia.

Financing of Moly Mines Ltd's $1.1 billion Spinifex Ridge project has been given a boost after the environment minister today gave the go ahead for the project to proceed.

Rocketing costs kill luxury CBD tower; Property dive feeds bourse to bears; Mystery buyer nabs 6pc of Cape Lambert; Unlisted property funds in ASIC sights; Wage rise stokes inflation fear

Two Western Australian companies have become entangled in the fall-out of Primebroker Securities Ltd, part of the Chimaera Financial Group.

Belmont-based Ferrowest Ltd has doubled the scope of the engineering study into its Yalgoo iron project to one million tonnes per annum on the back of high demand for merchant pig iron.

Eight months after it bought the site for $70 million, Goodman International Ltd has signed US-based drilling services company, Boart Longyear Ltd, as the anchor tenant for its Stockyards Industrial Estate in Hazelmere.