South Australia is in a prime position to promote itself to the world, Business SA chief executive Nigel Mcbride says

THE time has rarely been better for promoting South Australia as a business and investment destination.

Google’s Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore. Photographer: Ore Huiying/Bloomberg

THE time has rarely been better for promoting South Australia as a business and investment destination.

We need to highlight our world-beating strengths, and we’re asking our state to jump into gear to promote Adelaide like never before.

I’ve spent some time recently with Bill Muirhead, our Agent General for South Australia in London. He is incredibly well connected in the UK and Europe, he’s a proud South Australian and a great ambassador for our state.

As our Agent General does when attracting businesses to establish in Adelaide, we all need to think outside the square and act boldly. Our new State Government wants to make a statement, we want them to use a megaphone.

This time it isn’t just picking winners and splashing cash to attract a business to set up in Adelaide. We need to think about how we can strategically attract fresh talent by promoting our strengths.

We want them to recognise the professional and personal benefits for moving here, rather than being lured by short-term incentives.

We have a golden opportunity to start relationship-building afresh. Our new State Government needs to create strategic partnerships with our key universities and peak bodies to generate ideas to promote business opportunities together through a package of value-added opportunities.

That doesn’t mean just writing a cheque, but it could mean creating a compelling package to sell the benefits of inbound investment, whether it relates to an attractive space to shape into a business hub, access to world-beating internet speeds, or educational internships and pathways.

Think Dublin. What was once a tax-haven has become a European tech hub.

The Dublin region has a population of about 1.3 million – similar to Adelaide.

Take Stockholm. It has one of the world’s leading tech and start-up environments.

It’s much colder in Sweden than Adelaide, with a language barrier to boot.

Then there’s Silicon Valley, near the birthplace of the internet. Adelaide’s weather is similar with the added bonus of white beaches and blue seas.

The median house price in California’s Silicon Valley region tops $1 million. And that’s just the median.

The rise of the creative class is here and with manufacturing entering a new phase in South Australia, we need to turn our attention to biotech and other technology-leveraged emerging industries.

If we want to attract Google’s Australian headquarters, it’s time to act.

We know the people who work in these industries can live anywhere in the world. But they choose to live in tolerant cities, rich with culture, festivals, museums and events, where the standard of living is high, there’s a warm and dry climate to rival the Mediterranean, and world-class food and wine within a short drive.

There’s a reason why Adelaide has been named among the world’s top five most liveable cities. We must use that to our advantage. We live in a vibrant, boutique city and state.

Google should be as interested in Adelaide as it has been in our sister city Austin, Texas, or Boulder, Colorado, or any of the other vibrant boutique cities that it has already found have created successful places to thrive.

Nigel McBride is chief executive of Business SA