South Australia invites UAE to invest in mining

Adelaide: The South Australian government has urged investors from the UAE to participate in the state's massive mining boom, which has triggered $45 billion worth of projects and will accelerate the region's economic growth.

"The massive mining boom witnessed by the state is helping create $45 billion worth of projects including infrastructure and others," Mike Rann, Premier of South Australia, told Gulf News. "We enjoy an excellent relationship with the UAE. We encourage overseas investors, and certainly from the UAE. We would very much want the UAE to be part of that development."

Australia's exports to the UAE jumped 45 per cent to reach A$2.4 billion, while imports from the UAE jumped 162.3 per cent to $1.7 billion of which $1.5 billion is crude oil.

Bilateral trade between the UAE and Australia stood at $4.1 billion. More than 15,000 Australians live in the UAE, while 300 Australian companies have presence in the UAE.

"We are an economy in transition," he said. "We are rich in minerals, however, the resources were under explored. A few years ago we took a mining initiative that resulted in a 10-fold increase in mining activities.

"South Australia is open for business. From a base of four mines six years ago, we have nine under operations and 30 more in the pipeline. We'll see the deployment of the world's biggest fleet of trucks carrying 1.5 million tonnes of rocks per day," he said.

He said his state is looking for joint ventures, partnerships and investment from the UAE.

"We are obviously very excited by the opportunities but also aware of the challenges. Chinese and Indian investors have already begun investing and we are interested to see the UAE investors also participate in our development," he said.

"The UAE has a very good infrastructure from which we could benefit. DP World is a good example. Their involvement in Port Adelaide has been extremely successful and we are benefiting from their expertise and resources."

Expertise

The premier said his state has a good expertise in reducing carbon footprint. "We are in a very good position to help Abu Dhabi's Masdar project, which could benefit from our experience and knowhow."

The South Australian premier said, his state is keen on expanding bilateral air traffic. He wants UAE airlines to serve Adelaide, the state capital.

"Nearly one third of our Middle Eastern tourists are from the UAE and this is due to the strong air connectivity between the two countries," Rann said.

"The revised air services agreement signed between the two countries last year provides opportunities for a gradual increase in flights that will help increase the flow of tourists."