Perth aims to be ‘24-hour city’
23 August 2015 by News Desk
Innovation, deregulation and state-wide promotion is needed in order to make Perth a 24-hour city.
That’s the view of Australia’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry who believe Perth could be an engine-room of growth if it can break free from its country-town mentality and reliance on traditional industries.
“We need to look at setting ourselves up as an education hub, pitch our LNG expertise to the world and promote our ability to provide clean and quality food to Asia,” Dale Leggett, policy director of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry said in a newspaper interview.
Loud calls are now being made by industry and commerce to modernise Australia’s retailing opening hours, one of the measures being sought to stimulate Perth’s economy.
“We have a real potential in this state to make ourselves a regional education hub for international students. But, if we want to achieve that we have to have vibrancy in the city. You can’t expect students to come from 24-hour cities and then not even find a coffee after 10pm.”
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry are calling for greater investment in innovation and new business start-ups. Australian investors are forecast to plough $250 million into new business funding this year, but in USA the amount is much greater – about $84 billion. “Australia must raise its’ game if it wants to compete in investment with other world economies”.
