Trade Minister Mark Vaile has used meetings in Germany to push the importance of further agricultural reform in the next round of World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations. During a two-day visit to Germany, Mr Vaile met with the German Agriculture Minister, Karl-Heinz Funke and the Chair of the Bundestag Agriculture Committee, Peter Harry Carstensen. Mr Vaile said the meetings provided a valuable opportunity for Germany and Australia to exchange views on preparations for the WTO Seattle Ministerial meeting at the end of November. "I emphasised Australia's wish for a short, sharp, market access round of negotiations that focuses on agriculture, services and industrial tariffs. I also emphasised that Australia would be seeking an elimination of export subsidies, substantial reductions in support prices and improved market access in the agricultural sector, particularly for sugar. "While we have some differences in emphasis, Germany and Australia share a strong interest in the successful launch of a new round of WTO negotiations from the Seattle meeting." Mr Vaile has also met with German Minister of State for Economics and Technology, Mr Axel Gerlach, and members of the German Institute of Economics to promote Australia's strengths as an economic partner in the Asia Pacific region and in its own right. Mr Vaile stressed the benefits to German and Australian consumers and taxpayers of a successful result from the new WTO round, based on liberalised trade in agricultural products. "Our relationship is strong, but there is room for further growth and development, including through the implementation of activities of the Australia-Germany 2000 Action Plan." Mr Vaile said 300 German companies were active in the Australian economy with total investments of A$5 billion. He emphasised the significant growth in current bilateral trade that stands at A$7.5 billion. Australian exports to Germany increased 14 per cent in 1998/99 to A$1.4 billion reflecting the importance of Germany in Australia's trade diversification effort. "There's significant scope to increase exports to Germany given the size of the market. I urge Australian exporters to continue to seek out opportunities including in areas of significant export growth such as computers, automotive parts and other sophisticated manufactures. "Given the size of our two economies, there is clearly scope to do much more." Mr Vaile also encouraged German companies to take advantage of the opportunities that existed to set up regional headquarters for the Asia Pacific in Australia.
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