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Over the past 15 years Australia has undergone an economic revolution and is today one of the world's most open, stable and reliable economies, with higher growth and low inflation. Trade with the rest of the world is Australia's economic lifeblood. Australia ranks about 19th in the world in value of its international trade. The government's multi-faceted trade policy has as its main goal the creation of new and more open markets for exports. This goal is pursued at every level -- multilaterally through the World Trade Organisation; regionally through APEC and the Closer Economic Partnership with ASEAN and bilaterally through the free trade negotiations, such as with Singapore, Thailand and the United States and efforts to expand markets and address market barriers in a range of countries.
Australia's export structures have changed considerably over the past ten years. Although trade in commodities remains strong, new services and sophisticated manufacturing export markets have emerged. These diverse range of exports have made Australia the fourth largest economy in the Asia Pacific region. Australia is no longer a resource based economy and has not been so for the past ten years. The shift towards a knowledge based economy can be seen through Australia's rapid expansion of service industries and IT industries.
Australia offers an exciting range of advantages as a business and investment location, including:
l Open, robust economy forecast for continued growth
l Low inflation and low interest rates
l Well managed fiscal and monetary policies
l Committed and stable workforce and a low rate of industrial disputes
l Multilingual, highly educated and skilled, computer-literate labour force
l Cost-competitive location with competitive wages, high labour productivity, low property and construction costs
l An open and efficient regulatory environment
l Sizeable domestic markets and strong links to the Asia-Pacific region
l Low research and development (R&D) cost structures and low-cost business infrastructure
l World class information technology and telecommunications infrastructure
l Politically stable environment where foreign direct investment is welcome and government is committed to high quality investment services
Australia has one of the largest information and communications technology (ICT) markets in the world. The ICT market is expected to maintain average growth rates of 8.5 % per year in the next few years. Australia has an open telecommunications environment.
The market has been one of the fastest growing sectors in the Australian economy since its deregulation in 1997. Corporations operating in Australia have access to some of the most sophisticated and cost competitive telecommunications infrastructure available anywhere. There are more than 45 licensed carriers in Australia, including some of the world's largest telecommunications companies such as Vodafone Network, Telstra etc.
One of the most important factors behind greater efficiency in Australia's economy has been the sharp reduction in Australia's average tariff rates on imports. Australia's average applied tariff rate has halved in the last decade, contributing to lower business input costs and raising the efficiency of local producers. From July 1 2003, Australia introduced duty free and quota free entry for all products from least developed countries. Bangladesh can benefit from this access, especially with its garments and textile exports.
Australia's strength as a centre for investment rests on the quality of its 10 million strong workforce. Around 42 percent of Australia's working age population has a university degree, diploma or trade qualification. It is home to one of the most multilingual and cost-effective workforces in the world with more than 854,000 people fluent in a major Asian language and 1.3 million fluent in a major European tongue.
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