Launch of Austrade's “Journey to International Business”
Speech
Melbourne
2 September 2009
Introduction
Thanks to Dr Skolnick, academic staff and students of Chisholm TAFE.
Today, I am delighted to have the opportunity to talk about the importance of exports to Australia's economy and what the Government is doing to promote international trade.
In these times, it is crucial that Australia continues to build an export culture and that our exporting industries remain globally competitive.
Just over ten per cent of Australian companies currently export, so it is important for people considering a career in business to learn more about international trade.
The Austrade education kit I will launch today, Journey to International Business, is intended to help you, as Australia's future business leaders, to learn how to do business globally.
The world of international business is a demanding one, and through this booklet we want to empower educators to teach practical ways to succeed in international business.
Our hope here is that successive generations of students in business and economics will learn the real world applications of their ideas—not just the theory—at a time when the real world is becoming much more challenging.
Knowledge is power, as the great English philosopher Francis Bacon once concluded. A maxim all budding exporters should keep in mind when facing the challenges of the global economy.
Australia's trade policy
Before getting to that, however, I'd like to make a few points about Australia's trade and investment policies.
Australia stands for an open international trading and investment system, a principle which has been put into practice by a generation of tough but necessary economic reforms.
During the global financial crisis we have been leading proponents of this view of trade and investment in influential international circles, such as the G20 group of nations.
What this principle means is that we believe that general prosperity is best served by free and open trade and investment flows between nations.
Trade creates jobs and growth. Trade, like investment, is a stimulus to growth, no more so than during the global financial crisis when economies need all the stimulus they can get.
Our belief in the economic benefits of trade is reflected in Australia's strong support for the agenda of the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization, which we would like to see finalised as soon as possible.
Australia has also set an ambitious agenda of regional and bilateral free trade agreements to supplement our multilateral aims.
So far Australia has signed off on six FTAs and we are in the process of negotiating several more, including with China and Japan.
The Importance of Trade to Australia's Economy
A quick glance at the facts will show why we take the economics of exporting seriously and why you should take seriously the idea of exporting.
Exports comprise about 23.5 per cent of Australia's Gross Domestic Product, or about A$280 billion a year in income. That's a lot, even for a trillion dollar economy like Australia's, but it could be bigger.
About one in seven Australians have a job because of our export industries and about one in five have a job if you include importing industries.
That means 1.4 million people are employed are a direct result of exporting, while about 2.5 million people are employed as a result of exporting and importing.
Exporters typically pay higher wages, provide more permanent and full-time work, offer safer workplaces, more training and are better connected to the Information Age.
The Journey to Export Success
I mentioned Francis Bacon's maxim about knowledge and power before for a good reason.
To succeed in something challenging like exporting requires developing the expertise and confidence to do the job.
In business, it is often the smaller or medium-sized businesses which require this knowledge, largely because they often lack the resources to acquire it easily.
That is why Austrade's Journey to International Business will be such an important addition to the curriculum of educators.
Austrade has developed this kit for you to build the knowledge and skills to analyse a business's export potential, research suitable markets, entry methods and to prepare to enter the market
It will give teachers the tools required to teach new exporters the ropes, especially if they are starting or entering small and medium-sized businesses.
The kit will be especially useful to the smaller sized firms which comprise our exporting industry.
There has been the strong growth amongst small and micro businesses, many of which have set up in regional and outer-metropolitan Australia.
Before the GFC, in fact, export revenue in regional Australia was growing at three times the rate of metropolitan counterparts.
The Journey to International Business kit is important in a second sense, one which relates to the changing nature of trade, in particular the development of a knowledge-based export sector.
Australian exporters focus on selling more than commodities these days, and one of the Government's aims has been to increase the volume of high-value-added exports and services, such as education.
The point here is that knowledge-based exports will require more sophisticated business practices. The Journey kit can help here with critical advice based on the past experience of successful Australian exporters.
Of course, Australia's small, knowledge-based businesses have greater export potential because of better market access, new technologies and competitive business practices.
But Austrade can also help out with strategic advice that will build on these past achievements and allow businesses to adapt to the highly technological global trading system.
Educational tools like the Journey kit will open opportunities for you as future exporters to develop your own business ideas in the new knowledge sector.
Examples
I'd like to give a few examples this morning of some export success stories.
Sharon Thurin, a guest here today, is one of the business case studies featuring in this kit. She created her small business, Slim Secrets, in 2005 and it has been a remarkable success story.
Sharon now exports her healthy snack foods to Singapore, China, New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Also here today is Austrade Export Advisor, Victoria Warden, a local from this region who helped Sharon to achieve her export sales.
Another example of a successful local exporter is TRENTCOM, an agricultural company which exports to the United States and the United Arab Emirates.
Trentcom was incorporated 9 April 2003 and its sole director is Peter Lawton. All the shares belong to Peter and his wife, and all the profits since incorporation have been spent on development of the Rocket™Pot S1020 & Rocket™Rack.
Peter entered the horticultural industry in 1976 when he converted a dairy farm in Berwick to advanced tree production.
He has been active for 30 years in pursuing fundamental ways to improve the quality of advanced trees, proving the fundamental link between technology development and export capability.
Rocket™Pot S1020 is a major step in the process.
It recognises that the only way to perfection begins with the germination of a seed.
This is particularly true with Eucalypts.
Rocket™Pot S1020 is designed specifically to over-come the problems in propagating Eucalypts (eucalyptus angophora & corymbia).
It will improve calliper & yield elegant root systems.
Peter has found over 30 years that the root system determines the shape of the tree and that this process starts on the day of germination.
Small and medium-sized businesses, including those appearing in the Journey kit, show the many real opportunities for young Australian entrepreneurs to join the global market place and employ other people in the process.
Conclusion
As a nation, Australia still has to encourage more businesses to become exporters.
Austrade research shows there is a lot of talent out there.
By giving exporters confidence, marketing assistance, access to networks and coaching, Austrade is also helping Australians succeed in terms of trade.
The international business processes you will learn with this teaching kit could start you on this path.
In all of these endeavours, what motivates the Government's efforts is more jobs and a better standard of living for ordinary Australians.
Let's be clear: international business opportunities exist for people with vision and drive.
By using the Journey to International Business kit in their courses, TAFE and university students can learn what it takes to run a small business and become an exporter.
So start thinking about the type of international businesses you would like to create.
Be confident, and remember Bacon's maxim about how knowledge can deliver power and therefore success to your efforts.
The international economy offers potential growth to you personally and to our nation's prosperity, and I wish you all the best in your future endeavours.
ENDS