Victorian premier Ted Baillieu.
The state government of Victoria has welcomed the return of National Manufacturing Week (NMW) to Melbourne in 2013, as a reflection of its strategy for revitalizing the state’s manufacturing sector.
NMW 2013 – co-located with Austech – takes place at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre from 7-10 May. This year’s event focuses on strategies for boosting performance and productivity – an acknowledged priority for Victoria’s State Government.
Describing NMW as a “great event”, Victoria’s Premier Ted Baillieu said:
“The focus of National Manufacturing Week is ‘doing more with less’. This complements the Victorian Coalition Government’s commitment to increasing Victoria’s economic productivity and maintaining a strong manufacturing industry.
“It’s an industry that is a key part of the state’s economy and is globally recognised for improving productivity, research and development. The industry contributes around $28 billion to the Victorian economy each year and employs around 300,000 people.
“The Victorian Government understands the challenges facing the industry, including the impact of a high Australian dollar. We remain focused on boosting innovation, competitiveness, productivity and labour force participation.”
When last held in Melbourne in 2011, NMW attracted over 11,500 trade visitors,, with nine out of 10 visitors saying they were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with the event.
Paul Baker, exhibition director for NMW said the organisers expect this year’s event will be equally successful.
“The exhibition team is working hard to develop areas of particular interest to industry. For example, responding to industry feedback we have introduced two new Product Zones – Sustainable Manufacturing and Metals & Composites. This means that the show will be clearly segmented in 12, Product Zones to help buyers and sellers find each other easily.
“Details of NMW 2013 exhibitors, features and parallel events will be posted on the website – www.nationalmanufacturingweek.com.au – as they come to hand, so I hope industry will check in with us in coming months as we confirm the details of what will be a terrific event,” Baker concludes.
