After almost a year of preparation, the Australian government is intending to initiate its national blockchain strategy on February 7, 2020.

This fresh policy roadmap hopes to make Australia’s developing blockchain industry a global ruler, therefore, making the country’s wine industry, banking and finance the key significant areas.

The Ministry for Industry, Science and Technology and Ministry for Trade, Tourism and Investment in Australia, had last year, proclaimed the national blockchain strategy and roadmap.

Karen Andrews, Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, noted that the five-year blockchain roadmap will underpin the work of regulators, startups, and researchers.

She stated this while summing up the program’s growth.

She also indicated that the sector is set to be worth AU$259.4 billion which is $175 billion.

Andrews pinpointed blockchain’s assumed ability to enhance export opportunities.

This will allow domestic manufacturers to be able to track their goods, especially as regards wine exports and wine labeling.

Also, blockchain is predicted to ensure wine’s origin and cut part of expenditures.

Local wine is one of the most prosperous export products in Australia.

It has more than 2,000 exporters shipping it to 123 destinations globally.

In 2019, the country’s wine export quantity grew by 3 percent to AU$2.91 billion, which is $1.9 billion, although volume decreased by 12 percent to 744 million liters.

Australia’s expenditures on blockchain

The government has evidently not yet allotted any budgets to blockchain roadmap implementation.

Former blockchain investments from Australia’s liberal national government, under Prime Minister Scott Morrison, allotted AU$700,000 (~$500,000) to the country’s Digital Transformation Agency in 2018 to 19 explore the benefits of using blockchain for government expenditures.

Also, AU$350,000 (~$250,000) to Standards Australia to stimulate the growth of standardized international blockchain standards.

This was as noted last year March.

Other nations’ attitude towards blockchain spendings

The Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution UAE, a multi-stakeholder operation concentrated on science and technology, the Dubai Future Foundation and the World Economic Forum jointly released a paper last month.

The paper noted that the deployment of blockchain technology can conserve the UAE more than $3 billion.

On the contrary, a major Russian firm recently decided to cut spendings on blockchain development in the country by at least 50 percent

Russian government-backed corporation, Rostec intends spending 28.4 billion rubles ($453.2 million) on the development of blockchain technologies in Russia by 2024, instead of initial 55 billion ($877.8 million) to 85 billion rubles ($1.3 billion).