Posted September 24, 2018 08:00:01 The next wave of growth for NSW’s industrial services sector is going to be a period of sustained growth.

That’s the message from industry leaders, with a new forecast that predicts the sector will see a 15 per cent increase in growth from 2020 to 2021.

Industry leaders are calling for an ambitious investment plan to help them grow faster than the global average.

Photo: AAP/Karen Morris The NSW Government says the new industrial services forecast is the most ambitious since 2000.

Industry Minister Mike Baird has outlined a plan to create 500,000 jobs and boost productivity, but he says it will not happen overnight.

“The long-term vision for our industrial services is a vision that we will continue to create jobs and growth in NSW and beyond,” Mr Baird said.

“That vision is to achieve our targets for economic recovery by 2025 and to achieve a recovery of 4.5 per cent by 2031.”

In a report released on Monday, the NSW Institute of Technology’s National Industrial Policy Research Centre says the industrial services market in NSW is expected to grow at 4.6 per cent per annum from 2020, which is well above the global economy.

“It will take some time for NSW to reach this goal,” the institute said.

The NSW Institute for Industrial Studies has also forecast a 15-per-cent increase in industrial services investment.

“This is a key indicator of the industry’s growth potential in the long-run,” the NSW government’s new industrial service chief executive, Richard Tinkler, said.

NSW is the world’s fourth-largest economy and the second-largest in the world.

“We need to be investing in the industrial sectors that will generate jobs for future generations, rather than just looking at short-term growth,” he said.

Mr Baird has set a target of 5 per cent annual growth for the NSW economy by 2025.

The state’s unemployment rate has fallen to 7.5 percent, but Mr Tinkling said the state’s economy was still growing.

“For the last decade or so, we’ve been seeing some very positive trends in the state of NSW, but we are still seeing significant challenges,” he added.

Mr Tinkle said the industrial service industry was expected to produce an average of 150,000 new jobs in 2021.

He said it was expected that the sector would generate over $1 billion in annual income, but the state could face some challenges in the short- to medium-term.

He predicted the industry would grow at a rate of 5.5 to 5.8 per cent a year, depending on the level of investment.

Industrial Services Australia’s general manager, Chris Durn, said the forecast was “exceptionally positive” for the sector.

“There is a long-standing view that we need to get our growth rate up to 3.5-4 per cent and we are confident that we can achieve that,” he told the ABC.

“From our experience in the industry, we do see the potential for a lot of good growth to take place in the future.”