More trade expected

By Martin Tiffany

Despite Asia looming large on the horizon the South Pacific should see more Australian and New Zealand trade.

SOUTH Pacific countries should experi ence an increase in trade with Austr alia and New Zealand.

Potential Australian exporters to the South Pacific are being encouraged by a recently launched export assistance package. The package ‘Export Start Up’ is the brainchild of Austrade (the Australian government’s Trade Com mission), According to Philip Sibree, Austrade’s Sydney-based executive general man ager Product Development and Market ing and the South Pacific, the scheme is aimed at new South Pacific exporters. He said interested exporters would be given training in Australia on various aspects of exporting from the basics to various peculiarities of Pacific destinations. This will include talks by exporters currently trading with the Pacific. There are also visits planned to Pacific countries. He said on a recent South Pacific marketing

tour 310 companies participated.

Australia’s Trade Commissioner in Fiji, Steve Ryan, returned from one of these South Pacific marketing tours in Australia in March. What they are targetting, he said, are small to medium sized Australian businesses with an annual turnover of less than Asls million under the Export Start Up scheme.

During the campaigning before the ecent Australian elections, the Coalition iccused Paul Keating’s Labour of not mcouraging Pacific trade. Indeed Keat ng has no history of links with the Pacific ind his sights seem firmly set on Asia, iome suggested this would lead to Australian companies missing out on ipportunities in the Pacific.

Sibree and Ryan disagree with this, iibree said while the government does irovide some sort of framework, business vill always make up its own mind where o go. And as Ryan points out the Pacific vill always be important as it gives new xporters the chance to get their feet wet •efore attempting the more difficult xport markets such as Asia and others urther afield.

At present the South Pacific accounts nr about seven per cent of Australia’s xports and there is good growth in *apua New Guinea and New Zealand nd growth overall for the other Pacific ilands. Sibree said the future looks “very □sy” with a number of opportunities resent. He said they were concentrating lot more on New Caledonia and singled

out that country, PNG, New Zealand and Fiji as countries where good opportunities exist.

The growinging importance of Asia for Australia cannot be denied. For example the Republic of Korea represented 0.2 per cent of Australia’s export market at a value of A 59.7 million in 1970-71. In 1990-91 the share was 6.2 per cent and the value A 53238.4 million. In comparison Fiji in 1970-71 had a share of 0.6 valued at A 524.7 million, the share fell to 0.4 per cent in 1990-91 although the value rose to A 5235.3. Similarly PNG's share fell from 3.7 per cent to 1.5 per cent although value rose from A 5163.4 million to A 5775.8 million.

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New Zealand s Minister for Trade Negotiations, Philip Burdon, recently led a trade mission to PNG and Fiji to unashamedly promote New Zealand as a competitive supplier to the region .

New Zealand’s South Pacific markets were worth NZS63I million in the year to June 1992. In that year New Zealand exports to the region grew by 18 per cent,

a faster rate of increase than exports to the rest of the world. These exports accounted for 3.67 per cent of total ex P orts making the South Pacific a larger market for New Zealand than some much hl S her P roflle re g lons - The South Pacific is also emerging as a ma J or mark et for manufactured goods.

Thls 18 significant as three quarters of New Zealand’s export receipts (from S oods ) are stlll derived from primary

products.

Burdon wants to show New Zealand exporters the potential of the region is J ust starting to be tapped. He says the PNG economy has been enjoying growth rate s in excess of 10 per cent per annum and says if Australia can achieve exports to PNG in excess of ASI bi ||ion per annum Kiwi exporters should be ab[< T to better their existing 592 million.

Basically what Australia and New Zealand are saying is while Asia is looming larger and larger on the horizon the Pacific the South Pacific in particular will always be a major part of their trade and investment. □