As 2023 draws to a close it’s time to make a few New Year resolutions. One of Dr.Jens Goennemann’s, Managing Director of Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre, is to see Australian manufacturing make a giant leap forward in 2024.
His centre has formed a national program to connect with manufacturers, with the Australian Manufacturing Roadshow, reports Manufacturers’ Monthly. The Roadshow has already alighted in Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane with more regional locations on the agenda for 2024.
The mission is to galvanise Australia’s manufacturing potential and there is a real sense of urgency. So why is this so key to our future?
At the moment it looks like Australia has got an uphill struggle. Harvard Kennedy School Growth Lab released its latest ‘Complexity Index’ for 133 countries. It charts data that captures product countries trade on a global scale and provides a picture of how complex, diverse and globally competitive a country is relative to its peers.
We are sorry to report that Australia ranks 93rd between Uganda and Pakistan. The lowest of any OECD nation.
Basically, as end of the year reports go it’s a real ‘must do better’. And that’s just what the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre aims to do. At each Roadshow, the message is for targeted government assistance. Evidence of the benefits of this were heard from manufacturers who had gained tangible results of co-investment with government.
The article in Manufacturers’ Monthly here, contains some of the detail of how Australia’s manufacturing progress can be achieved.
If 2024 is to be a turning point, Australia needs to have the public and political will to reach these goals and capitalise on initiatives for the long-term.