CANBERRA, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has established a support fund to help businesses and researchers collaborate on manufacturing.

Karen Andrews, the minister for industry, science and technology, announced the 30-million-Australian-dollar (23.2-million-U.S.-dollar) fund on Thursday, saying it would create more manufacturing jobs in Australia.

Under the initiative, manufacturing projects that are collaborations between industry and research partners will be eligible for grants worth up to 1 million Australian dollars (773,748 U.S. dollars).

"We know that by making our manufacturers more competitive and helping them to take on the world, we will create jobs for Australians - both for the COVID-19 recovery and for generations to come," Andrews said in a statement.

Andrews said consistent with all programs under the Modern Manufacturing Strategy, this fund will support projects within the government's six National Manufacturing Priorities, including Medical Products, Food and Beverage, Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Processing, Recycling and Clean Energy, Defence, and Space. Enditem