Regional Investment Opportunities (RIO)

The RIO Project is a proactive initiative designed to understand the regional economy and take the initiative in strengthening sustainable regional development. It is also designed to assist regional councils in the planning process and their identification of infrastructure needs to support that development.

The RIO Project has been funded by Commonwealth, State and Local Government and the Murraylands Regional Development Board. Funding partners include the Australian Government, Department of Transport and Regional Services through the Regional Partnerships Program, Government of South Australia through the Office of Regional Affairs and the five regional councils; Rural City of Murray Bridge, Mid Murray, Southern Mallee, Karoonda East Murray and Coorong.

A series of four Economic Outlook Reports have been commissioned to underpin the investment prospectus and assist councils, members of business and industry and the Murraylands Regional Development Board to develop investment strategies and projects. The first three Economic Outlook Reports which provide both standard and targeted economic analysis were launched in November 2006, July 2007 and November 2007. A fourth economic outlook report will be launched in June 2008.

These informative documents are now available in the Reports section of this website.

Through extensive research and consultations the RIO research has identified twelve target areas for investment:

The RIO Project has been designed to deliver five localised community driven, investment strategies that will identify:

  • Targeted and preferred industries
  • Precincts for development
  • Complimentary industry arrangements
  • Opportunities for investment, re-investment, and value-adding on existing businesses
  • Available infrastructure to support targeted investment

Conducted over a two year time frame, the Project focuses upon Stage 1 – research and consultation and Stage 2 – marketing and implementation.  Stage 2 began in July 2007 with the recent launch of the Strategic Directions, Murraylands Investment Attraction Plan. The electronic investment prospectus was launched by the Hon. Patrick Conlon MP, Minister for Energy, Infrastructure and Transport at the Murray Bridge Town Hall on Friday 23rd November 2007.

A dedicated website was created as part of the marketing phase and the Invest Murraylands website contains further detailed information about investment in the Murraylands region.  The website can be viewed at www.investmurraylands.com.au