As the economy continues to re-open, and the majority of Australians are vaccinated, we have to do everything possible to re-position Australia’s global competitiveness and attract new investment into our domestic market. Maintaining the flow of foreign capital is critical for supporting a robust, local private capital industry to allow investment into companies that create jobs and industries that will grow throughout the nation.
Ensuring a right mix of policy settings that maintain a flow of foreign capital and make Australia an attractive investment destination will be essential for success, and this will continue to be a core area of focus for the Council’s Board and management.
For the private capital sector, maintaining deal flow and investing in companies that are aligned to future growth opportunities will be front of mind for the sector. Trends around digitisation of the economy and the desire for sustainable and responsible investment to address the challenges of resource scarcity and climate change will be important factors to support the emergence of new investments that will support new jobs and skills, increase productivity and build a more resilient nation.
Access to skills and talent will be an important part of our success as a nation. We are seeing skills shortages offshore and here in Australia as we begin to open up from lockdown. Continued growth of new industries and innovation will create more demand for skills and experience to support the knowledge-based economy.
Australia will continue to rely on migration from initiatives like the Global Business and Talent Acquisition Taskforce and Global Talent Scheme to attract the best and brightest talent. This is an example of where the Australian Investment Council will continue to work closely with policymakers to ensure the industry is getting access to skills and talent to support growth businesses.