THE NEWS WRAP: Victorian government announces $500,000 grant for small businesses targeting China

The Victorian state government has announced a new $500,000 grant for small businesses targeting China’s $190 billion e-commerce market.

Under its Manufacturing Productivity Networks program, the state government will offer grants to small businesses in Victoria selling food and beverage products to China through the Alibaba e-commerce platform.

“Increasingly, Chinese buyers are turning to e-commerce platforms like Alibaba to source their food products from safe and reliable suppliers, like Victoria,” Victorian Premier Denis Napthine says.

IBM to slash 1000 local jobs

IT services giant IBM has announced plans to cut around 1000 jobs from its Australian subsidiary through a cost-cutting program called Project Mercury, which has previously seen jobs shipped to Singapore, Malaysia and Ireland.

“Change is constant in the technology industry,” the company says in a statement.

“Given the competitive nature of our industry, we do not publicly discuss the details of staffing plans.”

Electrolux to cut 544 jobs

Whitegoods giant Electrolux has announced plans to close its factory in Orange, New South Wales, with around 544 jobs to be cut in the process.

Electrolux Home Products Australia and New Zealand managing director John Brown says the factory, which makes around 1300 fridges and freezers each year under the Westinghouse and Kelvinator brands, is no longer competitive.

The company’s exhaustive investment study, announced earlier this year, concluded that Electrolux is able to manufacture refrigerators currently made here more cost effectively in other factories in Asia and Eastern Europe,” Brown says.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is 15570.28. The Aussie dollar is up to US95.86 cents.