Speech by the Minister for Trade, Senator Bob McMullan at the Launch of Project TradeBlazer, Sydney, 18 August 1995
The growth of on-line systems over the last two years has been phenomenal
- fifty million people world-wide are now estimated to be using computer networks
- and use of the Internet alone is growing at around 38 per cent a year.
All of this is being driven by commercial as well as consumer demand.
Through TradeBlazer, the Australian Government is taking advantage of this explosion in network technology.
TradeBlazer is another important initiative stemming from the Government's trade policy statement, Winning Markets
- which was launched by the Prime Minister in June
- and outlines the Government's trade policy directions to the year 2000.
TradeBlazer will provide Australian companies with a gateway to world markets
- promoting Australian company products to foreign customers through electronic"home page" marketing
- targeting suitable customers for Australian companies
- promoting the capabilities of Australian companies to foreign industry partners, and
- providing on-line transaction facilities - such as customs requirements, and information on freight, banking, packaging and insurance.
It will assist thousands of Australian firms into export and substantially increase Australian export earnings.
Australia needs to act rapidly to compete with the foreign companies already exploiting electronic commerce
- and we're in a good position to do it.
Diagram 1:
Looking at this diagram...
Australia is ranked second internationally in its uptake of the Internet, on a per capita basis.
By the end of the decade, around 4 million Australian households will be "on-line ready";
Research indicates 70 per cent of households and most business sites will have access to broadband digital networks by the end of the decade.
These forecasts place Australia in an ideal position to adopt electronic commerce and become a world leader in its development.
Electronic commerce is bringing dramatic changes in industry structure and practice
- the implications are particularly significant for Australiaís small and medium sized enterprises who have historically been at a disadvantage in achieving economies of scale.
The advantages are many
- businesses can expect to increase their revenue by selling more to existing customers and attracting new customers
- they can also decrease their costs and investment levels by reducing operating expenses and reducing fixed costs
: electronic commerce may be a more efficient way of reaching the same customer for merchants with high marketing and infrastructure costs.
Some switched-on Australian businesses are in there already
- the Aussie Lure Shop, run by a former Queensland railway worker, sells only through the cyberspace all around the world
- Grant's Flowers and Greenhouses is the first florist in cyberspace with a worldwide web page created in the US at a cost of only $us28 a month
- Nicks' Wine Merchants has only had a web page since the beginning of this year and 80 per cent of the inquiries to his page are from overseas.
Through programs such as TradeBlazer, the Government, through Austrade, will fundamentally overcome the tyranny of distance that Australian businesses continue to face.
TradeBlazer will be particularly valuable to Australia's 70,000 small and medium-sizes enterprises (SMEs) with export potential by bringing them into the international trade arena, and encouraging them to tap into export markets
- currently, only about 5,000 SMEs export on a regular basis
- and, as the largest proportion of Australian companies, these enterprises have the greatest potential for lifting our foreign trade
- they are more flexible in meeting the needs of niche markets, and TradeBlazer will make it easy for them to access - instantly - important market information.
But we need to act rapidly to compete with foreign companies already exploiting the marketing, service and cost advantages of the electronic technology.
The Commonwealth Government has already initiated many policies to strengthen our digital information capabilities - policies such as Creative Nation, Commerce in Content from the Department of Industry, Science and Technology and the Broadband Services Expert Groupís Networking Australiaís Future.
TradeBlazer is a further step in presenting Australia on the international commercial stage.
TradeBlazer will put Austrade in a unique position to continue, electronically, the work it already performs
- motivating management to enter export markets
- finding markets for Australian goods and services
- and encouraging, through financial programs, Australian producers to venture into international markets.
The barriers in scale and investment facing potential exporters will be diminished under the thrust of emerging electronic markets.
The global market offering potential for direct sales is already $50 million strong and will be a primary target for TradeBlazer.
Diagram 2:
Looking at Diagram 2...
Tools at the 'fingertips' of Trade Blazer include its own electronic promotional facilities, the virtual trade fair, and the electronic market place
- Austrade will also conduct intensive marketing in individual markets to make potential importers aware of the service.
Australian companies already exporting, and those with the potential to do so, will also be a major target for TradeBlazer.
They will have an easily accessible, twenty four hour gateway to up-to-date information and specifically targeted research on potential markets, customers and venture partners throughout the world.
And TradeBlazer will also promote partnerships between Australian enterprises and larger foreign corporations.
TradeBlazer services will be provided free of charge in its first year and fees will be introduced once subscription levels rise.
Charges will then be levied on companies advertising their products and services (possibly as little as $10 a month) and on users making inquiries of the database.
It will be expected to make a net return by its fourth year.
diagram 3
Looking now at diagram 3...
TradeBlazer will be implemented in four phases.
Phase one, already underway, is making Austrade's services available through on-line networks.
Phase two is the development of information resources for Australian companies on other available export services, export markets, and Australian and overseas companies operating in the export arena.
Phase three is the development of an on-line presence for a large number of Australian companies
: which will also involve TradeBlazer being linked to all available international networks
: and its information being translated into a number of different languages.
Phase four will be the establishment of on-line transaction facilities
- eventually, participants will be able to complete the entire transaction on-line - from the initial inquiry to the funds transfer.
I am very pleased to launch TradeBlazer - an important addition to Austrade's impressive array of services for our exporters.