Pardoo Beef supports proposed trade zone

Pardoo Station owners, Pardoo Beef Corporation, would set up cattle processing operations inside a Hedland special trade zone, the project’s promoters say.

Local government body, the Pilbara Regional Council, hopes to establish its Pilbara Enterprise Zone so it included Hedland’s airport, Lumsden Point port facility and Boodarie heavy industry park.

The trade zone’s main attraction would be its ability to offer businesses streamlined government approvals.

PRC chief executive Tony Friday said Pardoo Beef, which aims to export premium Wagyu beef to China, had already indicated the zone would assist its business.

“In the case of Pardoo Beef, you have an initial locator who is saying to everybody, ‘I would exist in that zone, I would use that to transport my product to market’,” he said.

“We have locators knocking at the door, but ... we are still not doing enough to help them, to support them.”

Mr Friday’s comments came as the PRC’s Pilbara Enterprise Zone plans, submitted to State Government Cabinet almost two years ago, have so far made little progress through the halls of power.

Despite this, Mr Friday this month organised a tour to Shenzhen’s special economic zone, called Qianhai, as part of the recent EASTxWEST Forum in China.

The Shenzhen Government is building Qianhai as a completely new city within the larger Shenzhen city’s boundaries.

Foreign and Chinese companies and individuals setting up in Qianhai can access reduced corporate and income tax rates.

The Shenzhen Government views the special economic zone as a key tool to helping the city become one of the world’s leading financial and technological hubs.

Mr Friday said the Pilbara should likewise do more to roll out the red carpet for investors.