The Business Council of Australia has released an interesting paper entitled Building Australia’s Comparative Advantages which details what it will take to build a strong, innovative, globally competitive economy for the future.

It is an important read for business and political leaders who are concerned about the future economic prosperity of Australia.

The paper again emphasises that the world’s economy is in the midst of tremendous changes. The old approaches simply will not deliver economic growth. We must embrace new approaches at all levels if we wish to achieve success.

In many ways the Australian economy is at a vital cross road and we must decide if we want the country to have simply a resourcebased economy or we wish to take advantage of the myriad of new opportunities, diversify our economy and achieve increased growth for us and future generations.

Let’s be realistic, these changes will not occur at the level we need just by chance.

As per the Business Council paper, we need to analyse the opportunities, consider where we are currently, make a strategic plan of what steps need to be taken and then make it happen. The best chance of success is for a coordinated approach from all sectors, including business and government. The real question is whether there is enough will to take the actions required.

There is no genuine proof that the current (or former) government even truly recognises the threats and opportunities that our economy faces, let alone take the actions required. And by taking the actions required, I am not talking about spending billions of additional dollars of funding but rather showing leadership and vision to create the economic environment and framework that will encourage business to make the changes required to meet the challenges we are facing and to nurture the growth of the new industries that will lead the nation to greater economic prosperity.

I commend the Business Council of Australia for their paper and hope that the wider economy and political leaders take on its messages before we fall further behind in global competitiveness.