China is Western Australia’s most important export partner, generating $13.8 billion for the state’s economy in 2006-07 and overtaking Japan as WA’s biggest export market, according to figures from the Department of Industry and Resources.
Jordan may be a minor trading partner for Western Australia, overshadowed by Dubai and other parts of the Middle East, but a number of local businesses are finding a niche for their products in the country.
It’s the suburban life that inspires the projects of Fremantle-based artist Bevan Honey, who is about to benefit from one of Western Australia’s most unique arts funding programs.
Murdoch University and Curtin University of Technology have introduced new programs to increase student enrolments in engineering and combat the skills shortage afflicting Western Australia.
Edith Cowan University is on a recruitment drive to fill 12 newly created professorial chairs, as part of a strategy to position itself as a research university.
Western Australia’s trade with India is growing in value and diversity, on the back of demographic changes and strong economic growth, according to Simon Johnson, the Department of Industry and Resources’ regional director for India.
A number of Western Australian fine food companies have travelled to Sydney this week to network with 250 international buyers at the Fine Food Australia expo.
Western Australia is attracting more immigrant workers relative to its population and finding more jobs for them than any other state in Australia, according to a Reserve Bank report into immigration and labour supply.
Two Western Australian not-for-profit organisations working in mental health services – Richmond Fellowship of Western Australia and Lifeline WA – expanded their operations this month.
Human resources managers and business owners employing workers on 457 visas may be fined thousands of dollars if they fail to pay for employees’ travel, medical and recruitment costs, under new legislation before federal parliament.
Mining companies operating in the Asia Pacific region are facing a changing risk environment, according to Export Finance and Insurance Corporation senior economist, Ben Ford.
Western Australia’s labour shortage is proving a heavy burden for businesses across a range of industry sectors, with wage and other labour costs at record or near-record highs and recruitment activity falling to a three-year low.
Anglicare chief executive officer Ian Carter believes the not-for-profit sector in Western Australia needs to challenge rising compliance demands from government and raise its profile in the community.
Migration agents have warned new restrictions requiring trades people to have formal qualifications to obtain work visas will reduce the number of trades people entering the country.
West Perth-based Moly Mines Ltd has signed a native title agreement with the Njamal people of the Pilbara, ahead of the planned release of its feasibility study into the $600 million Spinifex Ridge project later this month.
Six partnerships between Western Australian businesses and arts organisations have been recognised at this year’s WA Australia Business Arts Foundation awards, announced this week.
New legislation affecting Australian exporters has been introduced by the federal government in response to last year’s Cole inquiry into the AWB’s Iraq trade dealings, which will codify three of the inquiry’s recommendations.
Employment conditions in Western Australia remain the strongest of all the states, with WA’s unemployment rate falling to 3.1 per cent last month, according to figures released last week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
