"Australia's Future Online"

Speech by the Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, The Hon Tim Fischer at the 1998 Virtual Opportunity Congress Opening Dinner
Sir Redmond Barry Room, ANZ Bank Building, Melbourne, 29 October 1998

Thank you, Peter Fritz; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen.

I am delighted to be invited to speak at tonight's dinner to salute your industry's commitment to Australia's future "on-line".

The capacity for the world wide web and electronic commerce to break down concepts of distance and remoteness from international markets is particularly relevant to Australia, including, importantly, for regional and rural Australia.

That is why, as Minister for Trade, I am a strong advocate for Australia's trading future on-line. This will ensure that we maximise the gains for Australia by finding new market opportunities that in turn will boost employment and small business activity, as well as maximising innovation and creativity.

I am pleased that there is a strong cooperative effort between government and business as well as the general community in pushing Australia's on-line agenda forward. It was certainly a key issue put forward by the Coalition during the recent election campaign as increased exports by any means maximises the economic gains to Australia.

The importance of the information industry

Electronic commerce via the Internet and the web is becoming an increasingly potent force in making markets work better. By the end of 1998 the majority of Australia's top one thousand companies will have an on-line presence.

In an increasingly globalised trading environment, world winners will come increasingly from countries with the richest information societies. That is why the Government is investing considerable time and resources in working with business to develop a comprehensive national on-line trade strategy which I expect to launch early in the new year.

Government and business cooperation

A number of key things are emerging from this work. It is clear that Internet-based electronic commerce is growing at a bewildering pace and has the potential to transform very quickly the way large sections of world trade are undertaken. Many Australian firms - but not enough - are moving quickly to exploit the competitive advantages of electronic commerce.

As I am in Melbourne, I'll mention briefly three Victorian success stories:

• QUESTech, the business arm of St Michael's Grammar School here in Melbourne, is at the forefront of developing of on-line educational services such as on-line delivery of courses, software development and on-line conference development
• Mildura Native Nurseries has diversified its operations from selling plants to a local market, to marketing a range of horticultural software products internationally
• AAV International is participating in international supply chains in the film industry by using electronic commerce to communicate with international business partners and deliver high quality products across the globe

These are just a few examples but they tell a consistent story of how, in skilful hands, on-line businesses are reaping big rewards on international markets.

Its also clear from our consultations with business that access to good information is critical to the success of on-line firms. Many of these firms are small companies, looking to government to provide more information on :

• policy and business trends in priority markets
• tangible opportunities in those markets
• key business and government contacts for the building of strategic alliances

The International Trade Environment

On the international trade front, the Government is working to maximise the benefits of electronic commerce for Australia through our efforts in international forums like APEC and the WTO; through our bilateral market access activities; and through establishing a domestic policy environment that encourages electronic commerce.

Over the next decade - possibly sooner - electronic commerce will transform domestic and international trade. The nature of competitive strength is changing fundamentally with the trade performance of a firm or country depending increasingly on new and different factors like how effectively firms and organisations use electronic commerce to communicate, improve internal and external efficiency, and expand market outreach.

Electronic commerce and fairer world trade

Electronic commerce is becoming the `third force' for a more open world economy, along with trade and investment liberalisation. While there is still no such thing as a level international trade playing field, over the past decade or so, the world economy has become more integrated through the removal of controls on capital movements, the freeing up of exchange rates, and the fall in tariff and non-tariff barriers.

All these factors have made international trade a much more important part of national economies. For Australia you need only consider that exports accounted for 21 per cent of GDP in 1997/98 to realise the significance of international trade to continued growth in the economy.

As an aside, I'd like to note how pleasing it was that Australians, in the last election, overwhelmingly endorsed the Government's determination to keep Australia an open, dynamic and outward-looking society, confident in its own abilities and enthusiastic about its future. Those who would turn this country in on itself, and threaten the livelihoods of the hundreds of thousands of Australians who depend on overseas trade, were resoundingly rejected. That's good news for Australia, and especially good news for industries like yours that are locked in to the global marketplace.

WTO and APEC

The second WTO Ministerial Conference, which I attended in May this year, achieved the first substantive development to come out of the WTO on electronic commerce. This included that WTO members would continue their current practice of not imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions.

In a few weeks time I will be travelling to the APEC meetings in Kuala Lumpur, where work on electronic commerce also has a high profile. Last year APEC leaders, including Prime Minister John Howard, called for a work program which recognised the leading role of the business sector in electronic commerce and the need to promote a predictable and consistent legal and regulatory environment.

In KL, I am confident APEC leaders will endorse a ``Blueprint for Action'' on electronic commerce. This will contain a set of key themes to guide the development of electronic commerce in the region and a set of recommendations for future work on electronic commerce.

Conclusion

Electronic commerce is a crucial element in the increasing globalisation of the economy. It presents many new opportunities for Australian firms across the breadth of the economy, to export goods and services around the globe. This has been borne out by both Australian and international experience to date. It is important that Australia work to maintain and further develop a trading environment that maximises these opportunities.

The Virtual Opportunity Congress is an important step in exploring the potential of this exciting industry. I look forward to hearing your views on what directions it might take, and on working with you all to ensure the export future of the industry and our country.

It is with the greatest of pleasure, therefore, that I declare the 1998 Virtual Opportunity Congress open.