WA Investment Prospectus (RDA)

• Primary Industries including fishing, fruits, food and beverage manufacturing, and wood products. These are already established across the state, are globally competitive and have significant expansion potential. • Tourism, including traditional tourism, and associated food and transportation activities.

Global Context The world is transforming at a pace that is sometimes referred to as the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0.4 Energy use is shifting from fossil fuels to battery and fuel cell storage technologies. Renewable energy, new energy storage technologies, 3D printing and automation are moving competitive advantages from low-cost labour markets to the resource supply or consumer markets. Advanced, high- cost economies, which struggled to compete for decades, are once again able to grow their manufacturing sectors. This has come about due to a shift towards the need for high quality minerals (from automated engineering processes rather than cheap labour) and sustainability- based products (including net zero now being required by global finance). Both of these shifts enable economic growth to shift to WA due to our strengths in science and engineering as well as strengths in sun, space and ethical production through environmental assessment and indigenous involvement. There is a global scramble to secure access to battery and high-tech mineral inputs to new production processes. Energy metals (lithium, nickel, copper, cobalt etc) are in high demand as new resources are being sought and supplies secured by leading battery manufacturers. WA offers the world’s most complete and abundant source of these minerals, and advantage boosted further by low sovereign risk and world class sustainability standards. Green credentials are of increasing importance for manufacturers in meeting standards and qualification to operate in regulated markets such as the European Union with its strong environmental requirements and the recently announced Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). WA is strategically well-positioned with Asia, Africa, the Middle East, India and proximity to South East Asia, all creating significant advantage. The Indian Ocean Region is the fastest developing region globally and will be for the foreseeable future. It is already a major conduit for international trade through the Suez Canal and around the Cape of Good Hope. Shipping traversing the Malacca Straits are at capacity in terms of the volumes that

Green credentials are of increasing importance for manufacturers in meeting standards and qualification to operate in regulated markets such as the European Union with its strong environmental requirements and the recently announced Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

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Schwabb, K (2015) “The Fourth Industrial Revolution”, World Economic Forum, Geneva, www.weforum.org/about/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-by-klaus-schwab

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