Address by The Hon Tim Fischer MP, Deputy Prime Minister, Leader of the National Party, Minister for Trade, to the Top Exporters Dinner, Melbourne, 19 June 1997

Introduction

It is a great pleasure to be with you once again for the Top Exporters Dinner.

The international trading environment is changing at an unprecedented pace. In the Asia Pacific, the second half of this century has seen one of the most extraordinary industrial transformations in economic history.

These developments are providing enormous opportunities for those Australian companies that can meet the challenge of the international market place.

Tonight I don't have to look very far to see those companies.

Those of you assembled here tonight are the "doers", the achievers.

You are the people and the companies that have beaten the best in Australia to win a place as a finalist in the Australian Export Awards.

I know that this success is hard won.

Many of you would have spent a fair part of your working lives developing the products, the marketing savvy and the networks to build export markets.

Over the last 34 years, the Australian Export Awards have recognised more than 1000 companies and you should justifiably be proud to be among them. I congratulate you all.

As Trade Minister, I am committed to securing the best possible opportunities for Australian business trading and investing overseas.

Tonight I want to give you a report on what has been achieved in terms of market access gains in the first half of this year and outline what our priorities are in the year ahead.

Our Trade Achievements To Date

Early this year I released in Parliament the first Trade Outcomes and Objectives Statement. This set out our trade policy framework, and highlighted market access priorities across a number of markets. The Statement noted that the Government had established the Market Development Task Force in order to better coordinate Government activity and target realistic, achievable priorities in bilateral market access, trade promotion and trade development.

The Task Force has been targeting objectives set out in the Trade Outcomes Statement as well as objectives for other markets not featured in the first Statement. The Task Force has also identified some new actions. We are seeing good results from targeting our efforts on particular areas and I'd like to outline a few of these tonight.

But before that, let me report that in the first six months of its operation, the Task Force identified 85 priorities across 25 markets. Concrete progress has been achieved in 63 of these 85 priorities and in 29 of these cases, objectives have been fully achieved. So what sorts of things have we achieved?

We've made market access gains in some difficult food areas in Japan by having product bans removed. We've been able to keep the applied tariff for milk into Malaysia at zero which has delivered big export gains in that market.

Another gain is in respect of reductions in Indian tariffs on raw wool apparel and wool tops. Mexico has agreed to elimination of tariffs on wool noils and waste, which is a growth market because of their NAFTA access to the big US market for textiles.

We've also seen some impressive investment and export gains as a result of promotional work. These range from the announcements of a major German chemicals investment proposal which could mean 1000 new jobs in Australia and a $70 million US investment in a magnesium smelter, to increased agrifood contracts and sales in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand and the Gulf States. There have also been bottom line export development and sales achieved in areas as diverse as mining equipment to Indonesia, wine to Thailand and education services to the Gulf States.

Considerable progress has been made in institutional frameworks such as the MOU on financial services with Indonesia or the MOU on intellectual property with Thailand. And an MOU has been signed with India to address a number of air service issues which will lead to an increase in the number and capacity of Australian airlines operating the route.

We have also supported successful bids by Australian firms. The National Australia Bank was successful in obtaining a Bangkok International Licensing Facility in Thailand. We also supported Australian consortia that were successful in bidding to participate in Thailand's Independent Power Producer Program and consultancy firms which obtained several waste water consultancies in New Zealand.

These are just a few of the positive outcomes that have been achieved to date from this initiative, and we will be looking to build further on this during the course of 1997.

Delivering Results Through Regional Trade Policy

Of course, APEC is the key to our regional trade policy - and it is supplemented by the developing AFTA-CER linkages, and the dialogue between CER and Mercosur countries in South America.

APEC's biggest achievement last year was to begin implementing the goals of free and open trade and investment by 2010 and 2020. All economies produced an Individual Action Plan (IAP) setting out their initial steps towards their Bogor commitments.

The recent APEC Trade Ministers meeting in Montreal produced several positive outcomes which maintain momentum for freer and more open trade and investment in the region.

Australia made progress in its key objective of ensuring that APEC members' individual action plans are improved further this year.

Ministers also agreed to an Australian proposal to accelerate the timetable for identifying sectors for early liberalisation, or what you might call the "spark plugs" for global liberalisation - following on from the push by APEC members for the WTO to agree to the establishment of the Information Technology Agreement last year.

APEC is also making good gains in the area of trade facilitation with tariff data now available on the Internet free of charge, harmonisation of tariff classifications and alignment of APEC standards with agreed international standards in sectors ranging from food labelling to refrigerators.

You may also be aware that in Manila last November, Australia, Korea and the Philippines announced a trial of an APEC Business Travel Card, simplifying visa and entry requirements. I am pleased to say that the trial is up and running, and we expect it will be progressively extended to other APEC economies. As a result, those frequent fliers here tonight can expect to spend a little less of their time waiting in queues at airports.

Practical Outcomes of an Outward-Looking CER

The development of practical business-oriented cooperative activities between CER and AFTA is providing important opportunities to advance our economic interests with ASEAN. While initial CER-AFTA linkages have emphasised `standards and conformance' and `customs' activities, we are seeking to extend the agenda to reflect a broader range of trade and investment interests.

The involvement of the private sector has been of critical importance, particularly in developing the ASEAN-CER Business Leaders dialogue and in identifying impediments to trade and investment through an extensive report on barriers to trade and investment

Along with my New Zealand counterpart Lockwood Smith, I will be meeting with ASEAN Economic Ministers in Malaysia in October 1997 to discuss the broad direction of the AFTA/CER linkage and prioritise activities for 1998 aimed at reducing impediments to trade and investment.

The CER-Mercosur dialogue with South American countries is strengthening, and we are starting to see practical results emerge. I attended the first meeting of CER-Mercosur ministers in Brazil a few weeks ago, at which we presented the completed CER customs compendium.

The Global Trade Liberalisation Agenda

Dialogue at the regional level and with like-minded countries can, and does, pave the way for more wide-ranging trade negotiations. APEC input provided considerable impetus to the inaugural Ministerial Meeting of the WTO, held in December last year. APEC Trade Ministers will continue to discuss how APEC can add value to the WTO in the year ahead.

The WTO Agreement on Basic Telecoms, which was concluded in Geneva on 15 February 1997, and comes into effect on 1 January 1998, will see significant liberalisation and enhanced access for Australian firms to 93 per cent of the world's telecommunications services market, currently worth $600 billion. Participation in the US communications market, by far the largest in the world, will be easier, while Korea will open up its market to foreign participation.

The conclusion of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) on 26 March, 1997 will, in combination with the agreement on basic telecoms, establish a framework which will underpin the continuing rapid growth of global information and communications infrastructure. The Agreement seeks the elimination of tariffs on technology and telecommunications products by 2000.

Australia stands to gain substantially from the ITA. The Australian information technology industry, which is already growing strongly, will benefit from access to rapidly growing Asian markets. The certainty of access will lead to secure jobs for the 30,000 workers employed in this sector, and create new opportunities and jobs in this fast-growing export industry.

The Government will continue to pursue strongly Australia's trading interests in the WTO. Highlight's of this year's agenda include use of the Dispute Settlement Process more actively to challenge unfair non-tariff barriers to our exports - for instance the European Union's ban on the use of hormonal growth promotants in beef production. We will also be using the WTO accessions process to leverage new bilateral market access packages for the 28 aspiring WTO members - particularly China.

Finally, the Cairns Group is determined to keep up the pressure for further liberalisation in agricultural trade. I have just returned from the 17th meeting of the Cairns Group in Rio de Janeiro which I chaired. The Group is very much alive and kicking - it has set its sights firmly on ensuring the agriculture negotiations to commence in 1999 deliver fundamental reform, and once and for all put agriculture and processed food on the same footing as the rest of world trade.

Work is also proceeding in the OECD on the development of a Multilateral Agreement on Investment. A balanced outcome will provide a comprehensive framework for international investment that should attract adherence of both OECD Members and a large number of non-members.

The Benefits for Australia

So, we have made a strong start in the year to date in terms of opening markets and this is showing up as tangible results in terms of specific trade and investment gains. It is worth mentioning that, over the first 4 months of the year, exports were up 4.2 per cent in value terms over the same period in 1996.

Exports are continuing to make a strong contribution to economic growth. Figures for the March quarter indicate that net exports contributed 0.6 of a percentage point to GDP growth in the quarter.

And of course the growth we get from exports means employment growth as well. The task ahead of us will be to further develop our integrated trade framework over the course of 1997 to advance Australia's interests in practical ways to create jobs in Australia.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Government is committed to fostering and maintaining the best conditions for Australian exports to grow, in terms of quantity, product diversity and range of markets.

We are striving to achieve a domestic environment where trade can flourish, and which will encourage investment. We have made solid progress in boosting market access and trade in the year to date, and there is more to come.

But government can only set the stage or establish the right climate. Our success as a nation in creating jobs and increasing wealth will depend increasingly on your efforts - those of business - in continuing to expand exports. The challenges involved in breaking into those international markets are formidable, but the rewards for being successful are great.

I'm very pleased to recognise tonight your achievements as leaders and as role models for the rest of the business community as successful exporters.

I applaud our best performers and congratulate you all once again for your impressive export efforts.