PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) and the state government would each contribute A$1-million over the next year to launch the ResourcesQ action plan.

The 30-year plan was aimed at driving economic growth, developing regions and creating jobs in the resources industry.

Under the plan, the state government and the resources sector would jointly implement investment attraction activities and provide a single point of contact for potential investors; review the mining, equipment, technology and services sector to identify and address supply chain gaps and provide a state of the industry report every two years to report on progress.

The plan would also develop regional resources industry development plans to identify new opportunities.

Mines Minister Andrew Cripps said the plan gave Queensland’s resources sector a bright future.

“Mining employs more than 400 000 Queenslanders, directly or indirectly, and this plan will create thousands more mining jobs for families across our state. The sector generates A$80-billion a year for Queensland to fund schools, hospitals, roads and infrastructure,” said Premier Campbell Newman.

QRC chief executive Michael Roche said the council’s members strongly supported the plan.

“We will demonstrate that with a A$1-million contribution in 2014/15 to the ResourcesQ community engagement component. We see this as a prime investment leading into a period of expanding opportunity for the state’s minerals and energy exporters.”

Analysis by the QRC recently revealed that despite challenges in the commodity market, the sector continued to be responsible directly and indirectly for one in every four dollars in Queensland’s economy and one in every five jobs.

The minerals and energy companies spent A$37.5-billion in Queensland with the coal industry contributing 51%, oil and gas 36% and metals 13%.