Five small manufacturing businesses from across Australia have secured funding from the government to strengthen their presence in the global marketplace.
The new grants have been issued under the Defence Global Competitiveness Grant initiative.
Australian Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price said that ‘more than $0.78m (A$1.1m) has been awarded in grants’ to the companies.
The companies to receive the funding include South Australia-based Electro Cad Australia, Queensland’s Buzzworks, Orbital in Western Australia, Advanced Navigation in New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria-based Visit Industrial.
Price said: “The Defence Global Competitiveness Grant Program is continuing to grow and enable our defence industry to build greater export success.
“These five small businesses are targeting export opportunities as direct exporters or through the global supply chains, demonstrating the dynamic nature of our defence industry.”
Buzzworks will be awarded a sum of A$239,600 while Electro Cad Australia, Orbital, and Advanced Navigation will receive A$240,000 each, and Visit Industrial will receive A$197,993.
The firms will use the money to purchase equipment, enabling them to manufacture a range of components and grow sales.
Price added: “This will make it even easier for Australian businesses to access export assistance provided by the government, as well as to promote their products, services and technologies.”
These grants follow the release of the ‘Australian Defence Export Office App’, which includes a pocket version of the ‘Australian Defence Sales Catalogue’.
In June, the Australian Government awarded grants to six local small-to-medium enterprises to support their defence export capabilities.
The companies that received the funding comprise Laserdyne, Heat Treatment, Acacia Systems, Intellidesign, UNEEK, and SMETEC Services.
