Austrade, Australia’s trade and investment promotion agency, has taken an initiative called Australia for Agriculture 4.0, aiming to build impressive record in agricultural innovation to facilitate foreign investment, exports and collaboration in both agtech and foodtech
The initiative aims to establish Australia as a global hub for agricultural and food innovation. It will showcase Australia’s agtech and foodtech capability and highlight its unique technological advances, research excellence, a strong record of innovation expertise, as well as the nation’s strong government support and established export channels.
Austrade has developed a new digital platform to showcase the latest news and insights from the Australian agtech and foodtech sector and connect investors, exporters and research partners to Australia’s government, the private sector and academic leaders and stakeholders in the field.
The evokeAG is a new agrifood technology event for the food and farming community. Held in Melbourne, Australia from 19-20 February, the event brings together farmers, innovators and investors from Australia and overseas to share and explore new directions for the next generation of food and farming.
“Australia has the potential to be a powerhouse in agrifood tech and we want to help the sector reach its full potential,” said Simon Birmingham, minister for trade, tourism and investment.
Australia’s government invests more than US$429.66mn a year in agricultural research and development and supports a National Farmers’ Federation initiative to grow Australian agriculture to a US$71.61bn industry by 2030.
“Australian farmers and food producers are recognized globally for their innovation, using technology to drive consistent productivity growth, develop better quality products and build globally competitive businesses. Despite facing some of the harshest environments and climate conditions on the planet, they have made the country a top-five producer of barley, oats, chickpeas, almonds, beef, sheep and wool,” said Karen Caston, senior investment specialist at Austrade.
“Bosch is investing in Australia as an Agriculture 4.0 development hub for three major reasons – its rich history as a world-leading producer of agricultural commodities, the strength of its agricultural research and scientific capabilities and the food and agriculture industry’s willingness to trial and adopt new solutions,” said Gavin Smith, president at Bosch Australia.
