Gary Kleyn

MARGARET River Chocolate Company is hoping to emulate its success in the South West when it expands into another wine region – the Swan Valley.

INCREASING tourism numbers attracted to the South West has not made life for many tourism operators any easier with some battling to survive.

PERTH-based Gondwana Resources NL has announced it will form a 50:50 joint venture company with New York Stock Exchange-listed Entrade Inc. to provide business-to-business electronic commerce solutions to companies in the Asia Pacific region.

The popularity of forest investment can be judged by the recent share issue offer by Forest Enter-prises Australia.

CALLS have been directed at Government to provide incentives for capital equipment investment in the Australian manufacturing industry.

BRITISH industry will be showcased in WA from 23 to 25 May at the Perth Concert Hall during the SuperCatEx catalogue exhibition.

USING negative gearing as an objective to invest in property is not advisable according to Nick Renton in his book Understanding Investment Property.

THE importance of individual contracts in the economy should be recognised and enhanced says Australian Mines and Metals Association executive general manager Steve Knott.

INTEGRATED Tree Cropping Limited is seeking up to $60 million to establish more than 17,000 hectares of timber projects.

THE South West Development Commission did not let the international media contingent following Queen Elizabeth to Busselton go past without wooing their hearts through their stomachs.

INNER city living looks set to continue because of the changing lifestyle of many families says Colliers Jardine residential associate director John Lagdon.

PRIVATE dwelling approvals in WA fell 15 per cent in February after a 7.3 per cent seasonally adjusted rise in the previous month, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.

SHARE price corrections spell good news for the WA real estate market as investors return to bricks and mortar security according to Geoff Baldwin Team managing director Geoff Baldwin.

FIBERTEL/Amcom has extended its high-speed fibre optic network to Technology Park in Bentley.

TOURISM brings revenue of $343 million a year to the South West.

FORESTRY business Powton Land Holdings is hoping to raise $10 million to expand its operations by way of a debenture program.

PERTH-based aussiehome.com has formed a strategic alliance with another Perth company, National Geographic Information Systems.

ONE developer synonymous with the surge in inner city living from the beginning is the Fini Group.

MARGARET River has the potential to be one of the world’s best known regional brands says 8M Media and Communications managing director Thomas Murrell.

WELSHPOOL-based sheet metal manufacturer AD Coote & Co has forecast a 250 per cent rise in its export sales in the next three years to about $1.7 million per annum.

WESTRAIL’S former Forrestfield marshalling yards are to be redeveloped as a sixty-three hectare industrial estate to meet long term needs for industrial land in Perth.

EAST Perth continues to experience strong demand for apartments with major successes for developers like the Fini Group, according to Colliers Jardine.

THE land development industry is hampered by government policies that see landowners as an easy target says Urban Development Institute of Australia president Graham McArthur.

A COMMUNITY-owned bank in Bayswater is a step closer to reality with the launch of the marketing plan for the venture.

STRONG building activity during 1999 has not translated into a drop in rents indicating there is no over supply in new homes according to BGC housing director Julian Ambrose.

NORTHBRIDGE is currently in transformation stage with the WA Government releasing a plan to revitalise part of the area above the Northbridge tunnel.

THE Real Estate Legislation Amend-ment Bill which relates to fidelity guarantee funds has been passed through WA Parliament.

AUSTRADE is trying to shift WA business focus from Asia to the world’s second fastest growing region – Latin America.

THE recent quarter of a percent increase in interest rates by the Reserve Bank of Australia was an over reaction according to the Real Estate Institute of WA.

CELEBRATIONS are ongoing in Bunbury over a national award granted by the Urban Development Institute of Australia for the Marlston Hill urban renewal project.

MANY CEOs are so caught up in running the day to day affairs of a business that they do not allow time to step back and assess longer term goals and strategies.

WESFARMERS has sold a major distribution warehouse in Bassendean to a local investment syndicate for $5.7 million.