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Introduction

The Australian Marketing Institute is to be congratulated on arranging this Export Marketing Conference on the theme of "Changes and Challenges in Marketing Australian Goods and Services to the World".

It shows great foresight, as I believe Australia's future prosperity is inextricably tied to exports. 

Giving your Opening Address today gives me the chance to talk about the exciting challenges the Government is facing - and meeting - in its work to improve Australia's export performance.  There is a lot of good news to tell about what our Government has achieved, and a lot to say about how we are preparing Australia to meet the export challenges of the future.  I see that some Austrade staff will also be speaking at the Conference - Sean Riley, the Senior Austrade Commissioner in Singapore, and Anton Mayer, State Manager in Victoria - both key players in Austrade's international web of expertise available to maximise the chances of selling Australian products and expertise.

The exports contribution to Australia

Exports and exporters already make a very substantial contribution to our standard of living.  However, their crucial role is unfortunately not always fully appreciated.

A recent survey discovered that more than half of respondents felt exports added little or nothing to their standard of living.  More than one-third seriously underestimated the number of jobs dependent on exports.

These were disturbing results in a nation that, with just 19 million people, is simply too small to consume all it produces. In fact, we produce five times more than we can consume and my personal commitment as Trade Minister is to break open as many export opportunities as possible in the world, wherever we can ferret them out. We have no choice but to look outwards so we can generate the income we need to buy the things we want.

Exports account for 20 per cent of our GDP - up from 10 per cent in 1981.  1.7 million jobs - one-in-five - depend on trade.  In regional Australia, that ratio is one-in-four.

Exports generate income, create new and better employment prospects, and provide consumers with a diverse and affordable range of products. 

Exporters are good employers - they pay their staff more, provide safer and healthier workplaces; and offer more training and career development opportunities.  They are also more innovative and better "plugged-in" to new technologies, such as the Internet.

And our exporters have been doing a fantastic job.  In 2000, the value of exports reached $143 billion - a 25 per cent rise on 1999 and the highest annual increase in 21 years.  In addition, Australia more than halved its trade deficit in 2000 - from $16.6 billion to $7.3 billion.

Exporting for the Future

The Marketing job before us as a government, and you as an industry is to ensure that Australians fully understand the tremendous benefits they reap from trade. 

Earlier this year, I launched Exporting for the Future, a public awareness strategy, extending over two years.  It is aimed at developing a stronger export culture in Australia.  The initiative will enable Australia's export advisory body Austrade and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to talk to people across Australia about the gains we all get from trade and investment.

The program consists of three strands: Firstly an education strategy, including a school education component for students from years nine to twelve -special seminars for business studies and economics students. These are the people we need to get into an exporting mindset from the outset, to focus them on the importance of exporting to our future prosperity.

The second major component of Exporting for the Future is the program of regional business development seminars that will showcase to local companies the business development assistance available from the federal government - particularly relating to trade and investment. 

We also have running an outreach program that sees trade officials visiting and speaking with local communities, and a radio campaign in regional Australia.

Exporting for the Future is an innovative, ambitious and multi-faceted initiative, with the potential to spread the word about exporting in order that we - together - can continue to generate wealth, jobs and opportunity for all Australians.

Using the WTO to improve market access

That's the domestic marketing job. but the task goes much beyond this. The Government is committed to pursuing all available avenues for improving market access for our exports overseas, and strengthening our trade performance further.  We therefore maintain an integrated trade policy, covering multilateral, regional and bilateral strategies.

Support for the World Trade Organization (WTO) is vital to Australia's ability to find new markets for its products and services.  The launch of a new round of global trade negotiations at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Qatar in November remains the Government's highest trade priority in 2001.  I remain in close contact with my Cairns Group and APEC colleagues, and the other major players, as we consider the way ahead.  Australia seeks a WTO round with solid market access gains for Australian producers including, most importantly, breaking down barriers and subsidies that confront our agricultural exporters overseas. 

The Government is vigorously pursuing the mandated negotiations on agriculture and services and encouraging support for further work on industrial tariffs.  Early progress in these areas will help to build support for a new round. 

The prospect of China's accession to the WTO offers real opportunities to strengthen our economic relationship.  We successfully concluded our market access negotiations with China last year, and we continue to lobby in favour of getting China into the WTO as soon as possible. 

The Government is putting in place mechanisms to monitor issues concerning China's accession and, as appropriate, provide capacity building to assist China to implement its WTO commitments.  The Government has also proposed that Australia and China jointly host a series of WTO-related sectoral conferences in China, which will identify further business opportunities for Australian companies and scope for greater co-operation. 

Taiwan's accession to the WTO will also provide Australian exporters with improved market access opportunities, including through tariff reductions on a wide range of goods, and liberalised access for many services. 

We are using the WTO dispute settlement system effectively as a means to protect and advance Australia's interests.  This was demonstrated by the recent WTO rulings in favour of Australia and the United States on beef exports to Korea.  Australian beef going into Korea faced debilitating obstacles, including being excluded from almost 90 percent of Korean butchers.  I am pleased that Korea has agreed, as a result, to make its beef import measures WTO-consistent by 10 September.  This means a potential $200 million a year boost to Australian beef exporters. 

Most recently, the WTO Appellate Body has ruled that United States' restrictions on Australian lamb imports are inconsistent with its WTO obligations.  The Appellate Body upheld Australia's arguments and the outcome vindicates the approach the Government took in challenging the US measures.  This ruling is an excellent result for Australia and for Australian lamb producers, and the Government expects the US Administration to take prompt action to comply with the WTO's findings. 

There is no doubt that the WTO dispute settlement system offers real possibilities for improving market access for Australian exporters overseas.  The Government has taken steps to increase the resources available to my Department in this crucially important area so that we can build on our recent successes. 

The Government is committed to ensuring that all Australians have access to information on the WTO, and an opportunity to make their views known, especially in the lead-up to Qatar.  DFAT  recently launched a Qatar website, as well as a regular newsletter on preparations for the Ministerial meeting which will be made available to all interested groups.  I have also announced the establishment of a new WTO advisory panel drawn from industry and NGOs.  This will be a small, representative focus group to provide advice to the Government on WTO issues, complementing existing consultation mechanisms such as the Trade Policy Advisory Council and the Agricultural Trade Consultative Group. 

Improving market access at the regional and bilateral levels

The Government is also working at the regional and bilateral levels to enhance market access overseas for Australian exporters.  APEC remains important, including in building support for a new WTO round of global trade negotiations.  And APEC peer pressure continues to provide a useful means for achieving unilateral tariff reductions and commitments by member economies - including by Chile, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand last year.  APEC continues delivering to the business community by responding to the challenges of the new economy, and developing regional approaches on issues such as services trade and intellectual property. 

We are also pursuing regional economic integration through the Closer Economic Partnership between Australia, New Zealand, and the ASEAN countries. 

Bilaterally, we are moving ahead on many fronts.  Possible free trade agreements are being pursued - negotiations with Singapore are well under way, and we are talking with Thailand about the possibility of an FTA with them too. 

Discussions on a possible FTA with the United States are still at an early stage, but the proposal was certainly well received by all the key people I met during my visit to the US last month.  Of course, we must ensure any such agreement provides genuine economic benefits for Australia.  There are a number of complex issues to be worked through, but the reality that the US is Australia's second largest trading partner. and biggest source of foreign investment. encourages the Government as we pursue this possibility. 

I recently launched an important new study designed to strengthen economic relations between Australia and Japan, including making the most of opportunities in emerging sectors like biotechnology, information and communications technology, and in services.  Similar joint work with Korea is also being done. 

The role of DFAT and Austrade

All of these initiatives require strong back-up at the bureaucratic level.  The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade - and Austrade - the Australian Government's primary export and investment facilitation agency - work together to provide the necessary back-up efficiently and effectively.

DFAT has a strong team of trade policy advisers and trade negotiators to further our initiatives to improve market access for our exports, including those I have outlined to you today.  DFAT's network of overseas posts, in particular, is a strong resource for providing information and assistance to Australian business pursuing exporting opportunities overseas.  Through these efforts, DFAT aims to make its own distinctive contribution to Australia's economy, employment and standard of living.

Austrade continues to target specific business opportunities for our exports in markets around the world. It helps companies reduce the time, cost and risk involved in doing business overseas.

Overseas, Austrade has around 90 offices in 60 countries.  These identify and feed export and investment opportunities, and primary business intelligence, back to Australian companies, and assist Australian exporters on the ground in overseas markets.  In Australia, Austrade has 13 offices and a network of 24 TradeStart offices in regional Australia. 

This is a great network for telling Australia, and the world, about Australia's exports.  And in 1999-00, Austrade helped generate $7.4 billion worth of exports and $900 million of investment by Australian firms overseas.  It also provided $135 million in financial assistance to 3000 firms via the Export Market Development Grants Scheme.

Conclusion

So, as you can see, we are working hard and doing a lot to ensure that our exports and exporters get a fairer deal in markets around the world.  The job is certainly not easy, but it is very rewarding when gains for Australia are achieved. 

You can rest assured that the Government will not let up in its efforts to improve market access opportunities for our exporters.  We will continue to do our utmost to prepare our nation to grasp fully the opportunities that are opening up for us in the world.