Destination: New South Wales

I am pleased to present the 2007–08
Department of State and Regional
Development Annual Report, my first
since appointment as Director General
in January 2008.

The Department is at the forefront
of the Government’s economic and
business development agenda.
Central to our role is the Chief
Executive Officers’ Economic and
Business Cluster, which I chair on
behalf of the State. This Cluster
ensures coordination across key
economic agencies, in achieving
our State Plan goals under P1 –
Increased Business Investment and
P6 – Increased Business Investment in
rural and regional New South Wales.

We have performed strongly
against our State Plan targets.
Our key measures indicate:

› in 2007–08, private business
invested $45.1 billion in New
South Wales (constant price terms).
The five year compound annual
average growth of private business
investment to 2007–08 was
10.1 per cent, which was above
the trajectory rate in the State Plan
(7.2 per cent per annum)

› there were 139.1 million
tourist visitor nights in 2007–08,
comprising 56.9 million
international tourism visitor
nights and 82.2 million domestic
tourism visitor nights. NSW is
currently above the trend line
required to reach our State Plan
target of 145.1 million by 2016

› in 2007–08 regional average
employment grew by 2.8 per cent,
with a total of 1.323 million
people employed in regional
NSW. Employment growth in
regional NSW in 2007–08 was
above the State Plan annual
average target of 1.5 per cent

› regional NSW accounted for
33 per cent of all regional tourist
visitor nights in Australia. This
meets the State Plan target of
keeping NSW’s share above
30 per cent.

The diversity of the Department’s
responsibilities, ranging from tourism,
business development, retail leases,
science and medical research,
demonstrates the range of our
activities, and is reflected by the
breadth of our achievements over
the past year.

This year saw some changes in the
Department with the Major Events
Unit being established as a separate
entity following the O’Neill review
into major events.

Significant Achievements

The Department has been involved in
many important achievements over
the past year. In September, we
played a pivotal role in Sydney’s
hosting of the Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) meeting. World
leaders spent a week in Sydney, which
generated global media coverage and
again demonstrated our capacity to
host major events.

The Tourism NSW APEC Bonus
Long Weekend Getaway Campaign,
developed to extend the economic
benefits of this major event to
regional New South Wales, won a
2008 Pacific Asia Travel Association
Gold Award.

We also delivered an enhanced
international business program
for the State. In addition to a
comprehensive range of trade
and business missions, we were
privileged to have the Premier,
Morris Iemma and the Minister for
State Development, Ian Macdonald
MLC, lead high level missions to
India and China during the year.
These missions produced good
outcomes, both in terms of marketing
New South Wales and in generating
business and investment for the State.

This year major Indian companies
Wipro, Polaris, and Rolta and Chinese
companies, People’s Bank of China,
Shenzhen Economic and Trade, and
Huawei Technologies have chosen to
set up operations in Sydney as a result
of the Department’s efforts.

The year has also seen the
establishment of a new Innovation
Council and Innovation Unit following
recommendations from the West
Report. As a result, there is major
work underway in the key priority
areas of financial services, creative
industries, logistics, and low
carbon innovation.

In another important win for the
State, the Premier and Sir Richard
Branson announced that V Australia,
Virgin’s new international airline, will
be establishing its headquarters in
Sydney, creating 1,000 new jobs.
There have been significant
achievements across all our
portfolio areas.

Defence industries have been
a priority, with the Minister for
Regional Development, Tony Kelly,
establishing a Defence Industries
Roundtable to attract and develop
opportunities in regional New South
Wales in defence related work. The
Department supported the Pacific
2008 defence trade show at Darling
Harbour, which attracted close to
10,000 participants, including more
than 100 international delegates.

The Department has taken the
lead role in developing 12 Regional
Business Growth Plans, as part of
our responsibility for State Plan
Priority P6. The Plans provide wholeof-
government strategies to overcome
constraints to attracting investment
in regional areas and identify
opportunities for business growth.

The Minister for Science and Medical
Research, Verity Firth, led the State
delegation to Bio 2008, one of the
world’s major biotechnology events
held in the US each year. Twelve NSW
companies exhibited in the Australian
pavilion, reporting good commercial
outcomes resulting directly from
participation at the conference, and
further enhancing New South Wales’
reputation as a biotechnology hub in
the Asia Pacific.

Through the Australian International
Sporting Events Secretariat, we
worked closely with NSW companies
in preparation for the Olympic Games
in Beijing, including PTW Architects,
who designed the Watercube and
(with ARUP) developed the athlete’s
village, and Great Big Events, who
delivered all sport presentations.
We have successfully targeted other
events such as the Doha Asian Games,
the Commonwealth Games and of
course the 2012 London Olympics.

G’Day USA, held in January, was
again a highlight in promoting the
State internationally. Our participation
was led by Matt Brown, the Minister
for Tourism, and generated substantial
media interest throughout the
United States.

The Department also operates the
Retail Tenancy Unit and administers
the Retail Leases Act 1994. This year
the Unit conducted 263 formal
mediations, resulting in sizeable
savings for small business in the
retail industry. The Minister for
Small Business, Joe Tripodi, initiated
a review of the Act to ensure that
it continues to best meet the needs
of all participants in the industry.

Challenges and
Opportunities

The Department of Premier and
Cabinet is undertaking a review to
examine and make recommendations
on the strategic direction, structure
and operations of the Department as
the NSW Government’s key industry
and development agency. We are
also developing the Government’s
response to the O’Neill Review into
Tourism in New South Wales, to
ensure we meet the challenges
of the future.

The Department has been actively
engaged with industry on climate
change and the impact on business
investment in New South Wales.
We have worked with industry on
the impacts of an emissions trading
scheme on NSW-based emissions
intensive trade exposed firms.

In the coming year the world financial
crisis and climate change will greatly
influence the work of the Department.
The Department will work on building
capacity in industry and on programs
for the business sector to assist them
to understand these issues from their
individual firm perspective so that
they can develop and adopt
appropriate responses.

In regional New South Wales, whilst
some areas have seen an easing of
the drought conditions there are still
many areas and regional businesses
affected, which will take some time
to recover.

Acknowledgements

In particular, I would like to thank all
staff for both their contribution this
year and the support I have received
since becoming Director General.
I would also like to acknowledge
the contribution of my predecessor,
Mr Loftus Harris AM, who served as
Director General of the Department
for more than ten years.

There is no doubt next year will be
exciting, challenging and rewarding
for the Department. With the
finalisation of the Department’s
review, I look forward to
implementing its recommendations
and positioning us for the future.

B D Buffier
Director General