Economic development agencies from Cape York to Gladstone will meet in Cairns for strategy talks tomorrow (Thursday, June 11).

Hosted by Advance Cairns, Tropical North Queensland’s peak economic development agency, the groups from Mackay, Mt Isa, Townsville, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Cairns and Cape York will spend the next two days meeting with regional cluster groups, and then gather to discuss collaboration strategies, and the future of the Queensland Regional Development Initiative (QRDI) funding program, which is administered by the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI), that concludes in March 2010. The QRDI funding program provides the bulk of funding to the various economic development agencies across Queensland.

Advance Cairns CEO Ross Contarino said the REDC meeting is held every four months, with their last meeting in Townsville, to strategise how the groups can work collaboratively for the betterment of the region as a whole.

The 20-strong group will represent Townsville Enterprise Limited, Mount Isa to Townsville Economic Development Zone Incorporated, Rockhampton Regional Development Limited, Mackay Whitsunday Regional Economic Development Corporation, Gladstone Area Promotion and Development Limited, Cape York Peninsula Development Association Inc, Gulf Savannah Development, the Office of Northern Australia and the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation.

They will spend tomorrow afternoon (Thursday, June 11) touring the Far North meeting with education, landscaping and super yacht cluster groups, before holding a strategy meeting on Friday morning at the Shangri-La Hotel.

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