AUSTRALIA MEETS AUSTRIA

LINKS BETWEEN AUSTRALIA AND AUSTRIA

A speech of H.E. Deborah Stokes Australian Ambassador in Vienna:

The theme is expanding business links between Australia and Austria. It is precisely this task which is one of my main preoccupations as Australian Ambassador in Austria.

You may be aware that primary responsibility within the Australian government for export promotion and inward investment lies with Austrade and Invest Australia, both of which are based in Frankfurt.

Austrade & Invest Australia

At the Australian Embassy in Vienna we complement and reinforce Austrade's role by looking out for business opportunities, developing links with government and private sector contacts, undertaking targeted political and economic assessments and organising, in co-operation with Invest Australia, investment seminars.

Vienna, as one of the cultural capitals of Europe and of the world, acts as a magnet for Australian artists, particularly classical musicians. These cultural exchanges contribute to a rich bilateral relationship which is ultimately founded on people-to-people links.

In 2003, total two-way trade was worth over 700 million Australian dollars, with a trade surplus in favour of Austria of 624 million dollars. Principal Australian exports to Austria are gold coin, medicaments, alcoholic beverages and railway vehicles. Major Austrian exports into Australia are passenger motor vehicles, musical instruments and paper and paperboard. Australian investment in Austria remains small, while Austrian investment is relatively large in Australia.

Australia's economic strengths

Austria can also form part of a wider European strategy for Australian companies, including as a springboard into Central Europe. An Australian parliamentary committee looking into opportunities for Australian businesses in Central Europe noted in its report in September 2003 that Australia's economic strengths placed it well to assist Central Europe with its transition to modern liberal economies.

The committee noted that the main stumbling block at the moment for greater commercial links between Australia and Central Europe was a lack of market knowledge of each other.

Strong productivity growth

Strong productivity growth has been a hallmark of the Australian economy over the past decade. Our productivity performance has even outstripped that of the United States. This has been achieved in part through improved flexibility in the labour market - unemployment fell to 5.8 per cent in August 2003, its lowest level in 13 years. Inflation also remains low.

The government is also currently reviewing Australia's international tax rules, including to improve Australia’s attractiveness as a location for internationally-focused companies to operate global and regional businesses. Aside from these fundamentals, Australia has a modern industrial economy - the fourteenth largest in the world - with a strong basis in the manufacturing and services sectors. In fact, Australia has been ranked by the OECD as one of the world's six fastest-growing 'new' economies. In addition, the economist intelligence unit ranked Australia second only to the United States in its 2001 e-readiness survey.

Distinct advantages for foreign business partners

These features of the Australian economy also mean that Australia has distinct advantages for foreign business partners. These include a stable political and economic environment; sophisticated financial markets; transparent rules-based commercial system; highly developed industrial and service sectors; advanced telecommunications and IT-systems; world-class infrastructure; and a well-educated workforce.

Exciting prospects for growth

Australia's multicultural society is also an asset, with immigrants from over 160 countries, many of which come from Asia. More than 800,000 people speak Asian languages. With Australia's modern, global financial and commercial systems, companies can operate in a business environment that is familiar to anyone who does business in Western Europe, with employees who feel at home both in Asia and in the West. For all these reasons, Australia is particularly attractive for firms that are looking for a location for a regional headquarters in the Asia-Pacific. More than 470 international firms have established regional headquarters in Australia.

Australia is a sophisticated and diverse economy with exciting prospects for growth in the most dynamic region in the world. Europe is an important partner for the Asia-Pacific, both economically and politically.

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