SA RECRUITING IN MUMBAI FOR DEFENCE AND RESEARCH WORKERS

The S.A. Government is attempting to recruit workers to the State from the commercial centre of India.

Addressing a seminar on ''Living, Working and Studying in South Australia'' in Mumbai this week, S.A. Trade and Industry Minister Paul Holloway said bio-science, automotive, manufacturing, medical research and hospitality were sectors where his country could employ people from the developing countries.

Mr Holloway said that South Australia offers varied job opportunities for overseas workers across a range of key industries including defence, healthcare and engineering.

''If you have skills in these areas, South Australia invites you to be a part of our cutting-edge defence industry,'' he enthused.

The Trade Minister referred to S.A. as the high technology centre of Australia's defence industry, leading the country in shipbuilding, submarine support, aerospace and defence research and development.

In a statement released last March, S.A. Premier Mike Rann said his Government had set a target to boost the number of people employed in the State’s defence industry from 16 000 to 28 000.

Mr Rann said that" Positioning ourselves to win more contracts will help us to achieve so many of South Australia’s Strategic Plan targets on job creation, economic growth, investment, interstate migration, exports, strategic infrastructure and establishing co-operative research centres and centres of excellence."

He said that “To win more defence contracts, we have to demonstrate that South Australia has the skills, the infrastructure, and the full-throttle backing of the SA Government."

Mr Holloway and the South Australian delegation will also travel to Bangalore and Chennai, with the aim of the mission to promote the South Australian education, wine, water, toolmaking and information technology sectors, as well as promoting SA as a migration destination.

Premier Rann will lead a trade delegation to India next month.

The head of the state's peak information and commutications technology lobby group told The Australian the government of "not looking in its own backyard" for skills.

ICT Council for SA chairman David Raffen, told the newspaper that the Premier was "wasting taxpayer's money" and should be paying more attention to the state's existing capabilities.

The Council has previously expressed concern at a suggestion by Administrative and Information Services Minister, Jay Weatherill, that industry development will not be a dominant factor in the Government's future ICT services procurement.