Opening Remarks at the Launch of  The Diplomat Magazine 2008 Global 100 edition

16 April 2008, Lowy Institute, Sydney

Acknowledgements

Thank you, Angus, for that introduction.

It is a great pleasure to be here this morning. 

Thank you to the Lowy Institute for hosting this event.

I would like to acknowledge the Export Finance Insurance Corporation (EFIC) and the other major Global 100 sponsors.

And most importantly, I’d like to welcome to the representatives of Australia’s top global companies – whose achievements we’re marking this morning.

Introduction

I congratulate The Diplomat and its editorial team on the 2nd edition of the ‘Global 100’ initiative.

The Diplomat has had significant success as a publishing venture over the past few years.

It has already made a significant contribution to the analysis of foreign policy and international affairs from an Australian perspective.

And through its annual ‘Global 100’ - listing Australia’s top 100 businesses by export earnings and overseas investment revenue – The Diplomat is underlining the importance of Australia’s global business engagement as a growing source of our national prosperity.

I congratulate those businesses represented in the Top 100 for the almost $219 billion in foreign revenues they earned for Australia last year through their global activities. 

I’m pleased to note that the value of Australian companies’ direct investment offshore is growing fast and approaching the value of foreign companies' direct investment in Australia.

This demonstrates the increasingly outward looking character of the Australian economy. 

What we now need to do is build on this success, and to encourage small and medium enterprises to expand further, so that we continue to produce more global champions.

The EFIC Global Readiness index finds that access to finance for small and medium businesses expanding onto the world stage is a key challenge.  Australia’s export credit agency EFIC has a role to play in this respect.

EFIC’s Global Readiness Index also offers some encouraging evidence about motivations for Australian companies expanding offshore. 

92 per cent are doing so to increase revenue or expand market share; while only 29 per cent are motivated by reducing costs.

That’s the kind of growth the Government hopes to foster thorough our work with industry to enhance export productivity and competitiveness, and through our program of macroeconomic reforms.

The foundations of growth

Australia’s increased interconnectedness with the global economy has not just happened by chance.

The policy choices made by the Hawke and Keating Labor Governments in the 1980s and 1990’s transformed the Australian economy by:  

• opening Australia to the world economy;
• significantly reducing tariff barriers;
• floating the Australian dollar;
• opening up financial services; and
• spearheading deregulation and structural reforms. 

These reforms unleashed competition and innovation.

And, of course, it was the late John Button, who as Industry Minister, played an instrumental role in that effort – tirelessly working for a more competitive and modern economy. 

I want to acknowledge his outstanding contribution to the modern Australian economy this morning, as yesterday we acknowledged his outstanding contribution as a great Australian.

The reforms of the Hawke-Keating era helped Australia to ride the regional financial crisis of the late 1990s and to take full advantage of the extraordinary global growth we have witnessed over the decade since, with the rise of new economic powerhouses, China and India.

Australia: a global player

The ‘Global 100’ listing demonstrates unequivocally that Australia is a nation with global interests. 

This is a point I emphasise. 

Measured by population we may only be the 50^th or so largest country in the world,

But measured by the size of our economy we are in the world’s top 15.

In terms of living standards measured by income per capita, we are among the top 20 countries. 

We are a significant and a considerable nation.  

As your own companies’ distinguished records show, we are a great trading nation, profoundly enmeshed in the global economy.

Australia’s political stability and the fundamental strength of its economy make this country an attractive location for capital investment, overseas or domestic capital investment. 

Our funds management industry is the fourth largest in the world.

Australia’s stock market is the second largest in East Asia (after Tokyo) and has overtaken Switzerland as the world’s seventh largest, according to Standard and Poor’s latest survey.

In terms of global turnover, the Australian foreign exchange market is now the seventh largest in the world, and the Australian dollar is the sixth most traded currency. 

More Australians are living, working and doing business abroad from Asia, the Middle East, Europe to the Americas and the Pacific than ever before.

It is estimated that 1 million Australians live abroad – primarily in Europe, North Asia, North America and Southeast Asia.  

The members of this Australian Diaspora make a prominent contribution in many fields.  They have distinguished themselves in commerce, the arts, and in science.

They are active and successful in all forms of business and finance and include many of your own representatives.

New challenges

Today, Australia is facing new challenges in an era when the distinction between the domestic and the international is increasingly blurred.

The Government is committed to respond to those challenges and prepare the nation for the road ahead.

This is why the Government is embarking on a new agenda to boost national competitiveness and productivity, including through comprehensive education reform, skills training and infrastructure development, including the roll-out of modern broadband infrastructure.

It is also why we are pushing hard for breakthrough in the multilateral WTO Doha Round of trade negotiations.

And it is also why we are re-engaging with multilateral institutions, highlighted by our bid for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council in 2013-2014.

Re-engaging with the multilateral system

Today, more than ever, the challenges to our national security and prosperity are global in nature. 

The new challenges of the modern era, such as climate change, environmental degradation, terrorism and transnational crime, do not respect international borders. 

They are challenges that we do not face alone and they are challenges that can not be resolved by nation states acting alone.

These global challenges require global responses.

They demand genuinely multilateral action. 

Unlike the recent previous period, the Australian Government will be engaged in and contribute to the pre-eminent forum for multilateral action – the United Nations. 

We believe that we can help play a part in shoring up the mechanisms of international order that help underpin Australia’s safety and prosperity. 

We think it appropriate that we play our part in helping to reform the United Nations, so that it becomes more effective and efficient.

And we think it appropriate that, from time to time, Australia should contribute to international peace and security by taking a seat on the Security Council.  That’s why we’ve announced our candidacy for the 2013-14 period.

We look forward to continuing Australia’s proud tradition of contributing to the work of the Security Council.  Our candidacy is in itself an indication that we are serious about playing a more active role internationally. 

As a significant player with a strong interest in a rules-based international order, the Government is determined as the Prime Minister has said, that Australia should play an active role as a creative middle power.

We have started as we intend to continue.

In Bali, last December, we showed we were determined to create a road map for an equitable and efficient post-2012 climate change agreement.

We have taken a similar approach on the WTO and the multilateral trading system from which we all benefit.  Since coming to office we have been working hard to get a successful outcome in the Doha Round of trade negotiations.

The Government will also work multilaterally to strengthen APEC for regional prosperity and security.  A key priority will be to bolster trade and investment.

We will continue to use our strengths to advance our interests on the global stage with active foreign and trade policy.

Strengthening our international relationships

To prosecute our diplomacy effectively, it’s critical that we sustain and build on our vital international relationships.

We don’t have to choose between a more active role in international institutions and multilateral fora, and vigorously engaging in our bilateral relationships. 

The two approaches are mutually reinforcing.

That is why we are committed

• to maintain and build on our indispensable alliance with
  the United States;
• to our comprehensive engagement with the countries of Asia and the Pacific, with whose stability and prosperity our national security is closely linked;
• and to re-engage with European Union.

I am very strongly of the view that we can have good relationships with any and each of these nations, or groups of nations, without that being at the expense of our relationships with the others.

This Government is committed to an active, strategic approach that seeks to advance Australia’s global interests by working globally, regionally and bilaterally with international partners and by taking a more committed approach to our work in international institutions.

That is the message the Prime Minister has conveyed in his recent meetings in Washington, New York, Brussels, London and Beijing.

Conclusion

I look forward to The Diplomat continuing its high-profile role in interpreting and analysing issues at hand, and advancing the national debate.

The Diplomat ‘Global 100’ initiative underlines the importance of international economic integration to Australia’s economic growth and prosperity.

And EFIC’s Global Readiness index provides valuable insight into the drivers and barriers encountered by Australian businesses as they step onto the world stage.

I congratulate the leading companies that make up the 100; you are strengthening Australia and promoting our standing internationally.

The Government looks forward to hearing your views on what we can do to further embrace opportunities presented by the global economy, and on how we can address any impediments you face.

For our part, we will be giving priority to domestic economic reforms and international action which prepare us to meet the challenges of a new era in a globalised world much more effectively.

A modern foreign and trade policy approach for a new international era.

Thank you.