Australia's Success as a Global Exporter

Speech

Australian Minister for Trade and Deputy Leader of the National Party, Mark Vaile
at an International Business Forum

Darwin, 12 July 2001

(Check against delivery)

Introduction

I'm delighted to be here in Darwin and able to attend this International Business Forum. I acknowledge, at the outset, the involvement of the European Commission in sponsoring this event, which recognises the important business relationship between our country and the EU.

I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome any international visitors here today to Australia. Darwin is a tremendous gateway for Australia to South East Asia, and indeed for South East Asia to Australia. It's a terrific venue for talking about business opportunities available in the world at large.

Today, I want to talk about Australia's role as a successful global exporter. My job as Trade Minister gives me an excellent perspective on Australia's development as one of the great trading countries of the world, as well as real opportunities to help that process along.

Australia is a nation built on trade, and it has become an integral part of the global economy. Exports and imports of goods and services account for around 40% of our economy, up from about 30% just a decade ago. One in five Australian jobs is directly linked to exports, and this ratio is more like one in four in rural Australia.

Australia's diverse patterns of trade

In 2000, the total value of Australia's exports was $142 billion. Export volumes increased 10% during the year. This generated a rise of 27% in export income, the biggest rise in more than twenty years. 2000 was a tremendous year for Australia's exports, and all sectors performed well.

We did well in minerals. Growth in petroleum exports was particularly strong (by 153%), reflecting both rising export volumes and higher international oil prices. And coal exports rebounded in 2000 (up 11%). Demand for metal ores also rose strongly, particularly for aluminium ores (up 47%), iron ore (up 24%) and nickel (up 114%).

We did well in manufacturing. Wine exports rose (by 26%) and exports of medicaments were up (by 44%). Automotive vehicle exports rose (by 38%), helped by better access to markets in the Middle East and the United States.

We did well in agricultural and food products (exports grew by 18%). Wool exports rebounded during the year (rising 34%). Meat products performed strongly, especially pork. Crustacean exports grew (rising 22%). In fact, export markets now take two thirds of all Australian agricultural production.

And we did well in services (exports grew by 18%). Australia's very successful hosting of the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games is estimated to have boosted services exports by around $1.6 billion. Travel services exports also grew (by 16%). Overall, our balance of trade in services moved into a surplus of half a billion dollars in 2000.

These results demonstrate the highly diverse nature of our trade. Australia is clearly a nation that pursues its trading opportunities energetically, and across the board.

Australia's varied markets

And Australia exports to many different parts of the world, with particular emphasis on North and South East Asia, Europe and the United States.

It's well known that we are successful exporters to our region and, during 2000, these exports were particularly strong. Indeed, merchandise exports to East Asia as a whole grew by 34%.

But, in fact, exports to all our major trading partners grew strongly in 2000. Our performance has confirmed Australia's place as an important and successful global exporter.

Key markets - Japan, the EU and US

Let's look more closely at some of Australia's key markets around the world.

Japan has been Australia's largest export market for over thirty years, and it's likely to remain so into the foreseeable future. Despite a decade of low growth in Japan, Australia's exports there have grown by an incredible 65%. Last year, Australia provided goods and services to Japan worth $25.5 billion.

Overall, the EU is Australia's largest trade and investment partner. We have seen our total merchandise trade with the EU almost triple over the past fifteen years, and trade in services has also grown impressively.

Last year, our merchandise exports to the EU rose by over 15%, to reach $12.5 billion. Europe is an important market for our coal, wool, wines, medicines and iron ore in particular. And last year we bought over $25 billion worth of goods from Europe, with medicines, telecommunications equipment and cars featuring prominently.

In 2000, our services exports to Europe were worth more than $6 billion, with particularly good results in travel and education services. Not only that, we imported $7.2 billion worth of services from the EU during the same period.

And the US is our second-largest trading partner. In 2000, our merchandise exports to the US totalled $10.9 billion, and our services exports were valued at $5.8 billion.

Trade policy priorities

The point of mentioning all this is really to demonstrate that trade policy is crucial to Australia's future prospects. And it only makes sense that the Government's trade policy integrates the multilateral, regional and bilateral dimensions, in order to maximise our trading opportunities.

Our highest priority is the launch of a new round of global trade negotiations at the WTO Ministerial Meeting in Doha, Qatar, in November. A new round focused on market access gains in agriculture, services and industrials would bring major benefits to Australia, potentially adding more than US$5 billion to our economy.

But we know that success at Doha is by no means guaranteed, and we are pursuing a range of other initiatives to ensure Australia's trading future. We are, for example, using the WTO's dispute settlement system effectively to protect Australia's trade interests. And we are making major efforts to get China into the WTO as soon as possible. China's accession will significantly improve Australia's prospects in one of our most important markets, and we'll ensure that the benefits are fully realised.

At the regional level, for example, APEC peer pressure continues to deliver unilateral tariff reductions and commitments. Indeed, at the recent APEC Trade Ministers' meeting in Shanghai, I launched an Australian study that shows that APEC average tariffs have been reduced by one third in the past five years. And APEC is doing much more than reducing tariffs - it's also working to reduce business costs in the region, promote Australian initiatives in e-commerce and paperless trading, streamline customs procedures and conform production standards.

Bilaterally, amongst other things, we are pursuing free trade agreements that could lead to real gains for our exporters. Negotiations on an agreement with Singapore are making good progress. We are exploring options for an agreement with the US, the world's largest and most dynamic economy. And we will soon start work on a joint scoping study to explore the feasibility of an agreement with Thailand.

We are also working hard - and successfully - to remove market access barriers to Australia's exports. My Department's Market Development Task Force has had major wins in achieving better market access in priority markets identified by industry, including IT sales to Japan, lamb exports to Jordan, and multilateral procurement in East Timor.

Conclusion

This is only a brief outline of what we are doing in some areas of trade policy. It is designed to back up my basic point to you today, which is that Australia is a successful global exporter that is not resting on its laurels, but pursuing further export opportunities wherever it can.

In 2000, growth in our exports was strong across all sectors and all major markets. But continued growth in a changing world requires unremitting effort by both the public and private sectors. The Government will not relax in its efforts to strengthen Australia's trade performance further.

Trade is so important to the Australian economy, and our trade structure is so varied in its nature, that the Government's trade policy must continue to be focussed on getting results and attuned to our priority needs. I can assure you that we will be doing that in the challenging times that lie ahead.

Local Date: Saturday, 22-Nov-2008 09:00:52 EST