5 May 2014
ABC News
Pilbara and Kimberley local governments will discuss how the regions can supply Indonesia’s demand for produce, at a meeting in Jakarta this week.
The Pilbara – Kimberley forum will be held over the next two days.
Topics on the agenda include local tourism promotion, improving relations with South-East Asia and exploring foreign investment opportunities.
Pilbara Regional Council chief executive Tony Friday says a key discussion will be the potential agribusiness opportunities in northern WA.
“We’ll be talking to investors from Indonesia, looking at what sort of investment they might be able to bring to the table,” he said.
“Sometimes those opportunities get missed in the mechanics of actually conducting a transaction.
“So there’s certainly an education component to this forum as well teaching both sides, how do you actually do business between the two cultures? How do you transact a foreign direct investment into the north of Western Australia?
“Within the next decade, the population of Indonesia is going to face extraordinary difficulties in feeding itself.
“Our traditional perception of arable land in the north-west needs to change.
“Perhaps land we previously considered ‘un-arable’ needs to be revisited.
“This is an area we need to be actively exploring as an economic opportunity for the Pilbara and the Kimberley.”
Courtesy of ABC News