Signing Ceremony for the Association of Japanese Consulting Engineers
Speech notes for the Minister for Trade Senator Bob McMullan at the Memorandum of Understanding Signing Ceremony for the Association of Consulting Engineers Australia and the Association of Japanese Consulting Engineers, Tokyo, 13 October 1995.
It gives me great pleasure to be present this morning at this signing ceremony between the Association of Consulting Engineers Australia and the Association of Japanese Consulting Engineers.
Congratulations to both organisations on the establishment of the MOU, a culmination I am told of the close relationship that the two organisations have enjoyed over the past number of years.
As you know, the Association of Consulting Engineers Australia is an industry association representing the majority of Australian based firms providing consulting engineering and management services.
You may not know that member firms have a turnover of approximately $1 billion, of which $250 million is earned overseas, primarily in the Asian region. The industry contributes significantly to the Australian economy, an amount over $10 billion annually by specifying Australian goods and services.
Some of the earnings from this association's members have been through ODA funded projects. It is this point which I would like to draw your attention to this morning and would take the opportunity to update you on some of the developments taking place between Australian engineering companies and Japanese firms in our Asia Pacific region, particularly through ODA funded projects in SE Asia. Since the first Australian company won business in Asia through ODA funding, it is estimated that Australian companies have won over $300 million in business so far. Austrade, the Australian government's official promotion organisation is actively assisting Australian companies in this field. Through Austrade sponsored seminars, missions and workshops, Australian companies are learning about and accessing such funding.
I am pleased to announce this morning, a further demonstration of the Australian Government's commitment to assisting Australian engineering firms in the SE Asian region through specific cooperation with Japanese firms in the region. From 1996, Austrade will place an Austrade trade official in one of our Embassies in SE Asia. This trade official will have the specific brief to assist Australian firms do business with Japanese firms in SE Asia. We see that engineering and construction firms will receive the greatest benefit of this new arrangement. The new appointee will naturally require extensive experience in the Japanese market.
Now I would like to move on and now call upon Mr Nell and Dr Umeda to come forward for the official signing.