Gold Coast Economic Development Strategy begins working towards growth

After revealing the Gold Coast Economic Development Strategy (EDS) 2013 – 2023 in October last year, there have been a number of changes occurring across the region that could be encouraging for anyone interested in purchasing commercial property in Surfers Paradise in the near future. In fact, the progress of the program could be an incentive to pursue property across the region in general, especially considering the changes that have occurred over just 11 months. 

Mayor Tom Tate said the report has shown an 18 per cent increase in business confidence across the area, with a generally upward turn across the key focus areas of the plan. This highlights the growing effectiveness of the state's development and could potentially lead to a number of new opportunities for buyers looking into business opportunities in the region. 

"Overall the results show that while there are always challenges and room for improvement, the business community is optimistic about the outlook for our local economy," said Mayor Tate in a 2 September statement. 

Main focus areas of the Gold Coast EDS

To understand the various elements of growth occurring across the area, it's important to be familiar with the six main areas being focused on within the plan. The six key themes include:

1. Innovation: Working towards creating an attractive environment for innovative thinking and ideas, one that fosters development and works to help create successful business ventures 
2. Cultural: Helping to push the local community to embrace and push their cultural identity to the forefront, attracting new skills, talents and investment avenues for the future 
3. Infrastructure: Developing a wide range of functional, necessary infrastructure to support the expected growth and encourage productivity 
4. Competitive business: Creating a globally-recognised workforce that can compete on a worldwide level and develop a strong economic presence – both nationally and abroad 
5. Workforce: Ensuring the local workforce has enough skills and talent to keep up and excel on the world stage 
6. International: Creating a world-class business destination for future development and building an identity as an emerging environment for investment 

In this context, the results reported by Mayor Tate highlight a number of impressive jumps forward. For example, since the Gold Coast EDS was implemented last year, there has been a 28 per cent increase in the activity of the film industry across the region. Furthermore, 13 high-performance sports teams have visit the city and spent a total of $2.3 million straight into the local economy, while creative employment grew by 5.2 per cent. Finally, another 87 new jobs in the innovative industries highlight the increasing strength of investment in these emerging areas. 

Future development of the Gold Coast EDS

Mayor Tate went on to say that one of the biggest things revealed by the recent report were the shortcomings of the local Surfers Paradise community, which could become the focus of future calls to action. These key challenges include a rising cost of living and a lack of jobs throughout the region. This could be stimulated by an increase in the number of commercial properties in the region, with small business being the backbone of any strong economy across the globe. 

"We're certainly putting the effort into these areas as we work towards the overarching goal of the EDS – which is to create a city recognised globally for its unique lifestyle, talented people, its innovation and its entrepreneurial culture, where people can study, work and live. I think we're tracking well and I'm confident about our future," said Mayor Tate. 

With the future development of the region expected to deal with these rising issues, the Gold Coast EDS' first year in existence has worked towards achieving the goals set out by the strategy developers. The future looks bright for the region, which could be worth getting in on in the early days – get in touch with a local real estate agent to discuss the various property options available to you in the near future.