PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Australian resources sector was still a prime destination for investment, despite being faced with a number of challenges, Minister for Industry Ian Macfarlane said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Paydirt South Australian Resources and Energy Investment Conference, in Adelaide, Macfarlane said that economic projections indicated a largely positive outlook for the world economy in the near future, meaning that there was scope for continued growth in demand for resources and energy.

He noted that while the Chinese economy had been growing at a slower pace of late, it was still forecast to grow more than 7% over the remainder of the decade.

“It is also forecast that Chinese capital investments will not decline in the short term,” Macfarlane said.

The Minister noted that there were good prospects for further investment in the resources sector in the near future.

“This is especially the case if you consider that more than 250 projects were being planned as of last October, according to the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics.

“Across Australia, there were more than A$109-billion in publicly announced projects, A$208-billion at the feasibility stage, and A$240-billion at the committed stage as of last October.”

However, Macfarlane conceded that as a result of the changing global demand for resources, evidence suggested that the latest cycle of investment in the resources and energy sector had peaked.

“The transition from the investment phase of the resources boom to the production phase is gathering pace, as newly developed projects start commercial production.

“While there are still mega projects under construction, we no longer have the record-breaking pipeline of mega projects we saw in the past. Unfortunately, it is the nature of the sector.”

Macfarlane said that this reality has merely doubled the Australian government’s resolve to “get out of the way of new investment” and to establish policies to ensure that Australia could continue to attract investment.

Part of this was ridding the country of unnecessary red tape and green tape, Macfarlane said, as well as the abolishment of the minerals resource rent tax and the establishment of a streamlined approvals process.

“Even though we have seen delays and cancellations of some projects, I still believe the outlook is promising as the global economic environment improves.

“The government will continue to play its part in facilitating growth by creating a strong and stable regulatory environment for businesses to succeed.”