Speech to the Austrade Export Adviser Conference

12 March 2007, Terrigal

Thank you, Peter [Peter O’Byrne]

It gives me great pleasure to be here tonight.

The Australian Government is working hard to create conditions that favour and enhance the nation’s capacity to export goods and services to the world. An important part of that is the development of an export culture among businesses throughout Australia - from our teeming cities, to our regions, and to the remote vastness of our outback.

I would like to acknowledge your network’s contribution as frontline troops in helping Australian businesses across the country to access international markets.

Branding Australia

In working with and encouraging our exporters, you also play a key role in building Australia’s brand globally. I am happy to say that these exporting businesses are performing well. Our exports reached a new record in 2006 of $210 billion - up 16 per cent. In the same year, resources exports grew by 21 per cent to $71.3 billion - the highest on record.

• manufactures grew 14 per cent to $42.1 billion - again another all time high.
• services exports expanded by 8 per cent to $43.8 billion - yet another record, and
• the trade deficit fell substantially – it dropped $5.1 billion to $11.6 billion in 2006.

Even our long-suffering farmers in the severest of drought conditions managed to achieve solid growth of 6 per cent in 2006, with significant contributions from cereals, wool and meat.

These achievements demonstrate what can be accomplished through a combination of good policy and strong policy delivery.

Government support of businesses is an important part of this policy mix. Austrade and its allies play a role in delivering this support. Last year, you provided services to more than 20,000 businesses. A quarter of these freely acknowledge your help in achieving international deals.

Government initiatives

I note that for the full 2005-06 financial year, there were 3,485 recipients of Export Market Development Grant payments, helping these companies to get into export and to develop sustainable export markets. A quarter of these were from regional Australia, where exporter numbers are growing at three times the rate of metropolitan areas.

One in five jobs are export related: the ratio goes up to one in four in regional and rural Australia. And this year to the end of February, we have already awarded EMDG grants to 2,653 businesses.

TradeStart

In last year’s Budget, the Australian Government allocated $23.3 million to continue the TradeStart network. Today, there are 69 TradeStart offices employing 75 Export Advisers. Since 2002-03, TradeStart has helped more than 1,791 businesses achieve export success worth more than $733 million.

TradeStart is particularly important in extending access to export services across regional Australia, even to enterprises located in the most remote areas.

To illustrate just how far-reaching this program can be, imagine a four-hour drive south-west of Alice Springs which takes you to Fregon, in the remote north-west of South Australia. There you will find the Kaltjiti Arts and Crafts Centre, a community-based enterprise owned by the Pitjantjatjara people. With the support of Austrade and TradeStart, the Centre is now finding international markets for their unique products.

The Centre sends indigenous images and designs to their partners in Srinigar, the capital of Kashmir, where craftspeople transform these designs into hand-made rugs, cushions and furnishings. These products are now sold to markets in Europe, particularly in Italy and France. Now the Centre hopes to break into the US market.

Export Hubs

Further enhancing the delivery of Australian Government services to businesses in regional Australia are eight Export Hubs. These Hubs provide one-stop shops for Austrade and AusIndustry support in key locations around the country. They are of great benefit to local communities.

Doha and FTAs

In addition to delivering services to business, the Australian Government is working hard to improve access to international markets, creating the best possible access for our exporters. The Government remains committed to pursuing broad-ranging liberalisation at the multilateral level, though clearly the current Doha Round is facing considerable challenges.

We are continuing to look at ways to overcome these challenges. It is gaining momentum despite the talks stalling last year but there is still a lot of work to do. Meanwhile, we have been successful in creating new opportunities for our exporters through negotiation of free trade agreements with our key trading partners.

We now have comprehensive agreements in place with the United States, Thailand, Singapore and New Zealand. And we are pursuing further FTAs with China, Japan, Malaysia, and ASEAN. The FTAs have reduced inequities and distortions in international markets and I know that Austrade has assisted businesses in FTA markets.

In the United States, our largest commercial partner, the number of businesses Austrade assisted in 2005-06 rose by 30 per cent over the previous year, while the value of the deals these businesses achieved grew by more than 60 per cent.

China and India

In addition, great export opportunities lie ahead for Australian businesses to enter the expanding markets of China and India.

Australian exports to China have grown at an averageannual rate of 19 per cent over the past decade. The Australian Government has expanded the Austrade network to 15 points of presence in China to support the continued growth of our commercial links with this important market. China is now our sixth-largest market for services exports, such as banking, financial, and insurance services, tourism, architectural, construction and engineering, education and training.

Service exports to China increased by 23 per cent in 2004-05 to more than $2.3 billion. Merchandise trade has quadrupled to almost $29 billion, driven by rapidly-increasing demand for our energy and resource exports.

In last year’s Budget, the Australian Government committed $6.5 million to help Australian businesses capitalise on emerging opportunities in India.

I have just returned from leading a high-level Australian trade delegation across four cities in India - Chennai, Hyderabad, New Delhi and Mumbai. During the visit, I had the opportunity to talk with a range of senior Indian Government and business leaders about new opportunities for deepening the commercial relationship between our two countries.

We are also expanding Australian Government resources dedicated to fostering these business ties. As part of this expansion I opened our new Australian Consulate-General in Chennai.

Over the past five years, India has become Australia’s fastest-growing merchandise export market, with exports of Australian goods and services reaching almost $7 billion last year. India has now overtaken the UK to become Australia’s sixth-largest export market and, more surprisingly, Australia now ranks as India’s fifth-largest source of imports.

The Government is committed to continue building on this success.

APEC

Now let me turn to the wider Asia-Pacific region.

The member countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum accounted for 44 per cent of world exports of goods and services and 69 per cent of Australia’s trade in 2005, and include all of Australia’s top five export markets. This year, APEC will be conducting a series of government and business meetings in Australia, culminating in September when the Prime Minister will host leaders from the 21 member countries at the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting.

APEC provides us with a key forum for addressing trade and investment issues across the region. This year, the Australian Government will be looking to ensure that these meetings will result in meaningful outcomes for business and continue to improve the commercial ties between all participating countries.

Business Club Australia

There are many innovative programs and initiatives being undertaken by Austrade and I’d like to mention one in particular:

It’s Business Club Australia (BCA), which seeks to create international business opportunities around some of our great sporting events. To date, BCA has supported $1.7 billion in trade and investment outcomes through business programs held during the Sydney 2000 Olympics, Rugby World Cup 2003, Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games and - an event I took part in last year - the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. Well, I was there to watch the race that stops the nation as well as talk a little business.

This year, BCA will take its networking and business-matching skills to France for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

Last week, I met with the French Minister for Foreign Trade, Christine Legarde, and as well as discussing trade issues, I had the opportunity to present her with a Wallabies jersey and highlight how Business Club Australia is working to deepen our commercial ties.

BCA is also developing programs for the 2007 Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Conclusion

Whether you are employed directly by Austrade, or through its partners, we all share the same objectives of:

• increasing the prosperity of all Australians; and
• improving the international competitiveness of Australian businesses.

I would like to conclude by pointing out that the Government is working hard to create an environment that enhances international opportunities for Australian businesses.

Thank you for the work you are doing as our frontline troops in support of Australian businesses and I encourage you to continue your innovative and valuable work in guiding more and more Australian companies on the road to success.

I wish you all a productive and successful three days looking at the next generation of people, places and products.

Now, it is my pleasure to declare the 2007 Export Advisers’ Conference officially open.

Thank you.

ENDS