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INVEST IN AUSTRALIA SEMINAR FUZHOU, WUHAN, NANJING, JINAN AND BEIJING April 2002 Michael C. H. Jones,
President ACCCI |
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There
are five principle reasons why your companies should consider investing in
Australia. GEOGRAPHY
— Australia dominates the lndauspac Region. SECURITY
— Australia is an economically very powerful country. STABILITY
— Australia is a multicultural constitutional democracy. FRIENDSHIP
- Australia likes China and. the Chinese. LIFESTYLE
— Australia is a wonderful place to visit. Because
my almost 83-year-old mother is a New Zealander, I have to say that New
Zealand, that little country of two main Islands to the east of Sydney, is
almost as good. Sydney of course is official the Provincial
capital of New South Wales but everyone knows the City from the highly
successful 2000 Olympics. In reality Sydney is a great international city and
is the financial and commercial capital of Australasia. |
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Therefore, geographically
speaking, we might refer to “Greater Sydney”, which is a mega city that
covers an area from Newcastle in the north to Wollongong in the south and
Penrith at the foot of the Blue Mountains in the west — well over 4-million
people. This is the mega centre, or
business capital; surrounded with two broad rings of economic activity or
major economic regions. The first, or inner economic
ring, would comprise: v
Melbourne and Victoria/South Australia/Tasmania to
the south v
Auckland and New Zealand across the waters to the
east v
Brisbane and Queensland/Northern Territory to the
north v
Perth and Western Australia across the deserts to
the west The Australian writ runs from
the Cocos Islands in the Eastern Indian Ocean to Norfolk Island in the
Western Pacific Ocean. Put simply,
this is a massive maritime part of the globe including the only Continent in
the world that is one country. The second, or outer economic ring,
would itself have component parts: To the north are the three Asian
regions and/or associations: v
ASEAN-representing 10 countries under a collective
leadership v
Republic of India — over 1-billion people v
People’s Republic of China - now almost 1.3 billion
people To the east are the two
Americas: v
North America - comprising the USA, Canada and
Mexico v
Hispanic America - consisting of the Spanish
speaking countries of the Pacific To the west is Africa, again
three broad groupings of countries: v
South Africa — including several bordering
countries v
East Africa — consisting of the multi-linguistic
countries of the West Indian Ocean v
Middle East — the assortment of North African, Arab
and Central Asian countries Finally to Europe and
essentially two new groupings: v
European Community - Spain to Poland, Ireland to
Greece, plus Scandinavia v
Russia - the Eurasian landmass reaching from the
Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean This is looking at the world
from Australian eyes, and of course the economic potential and the political
reality may often be very different.
Now I also recognise that modern international air transportation
makes all the cities and countries of the world directly accessible and very
quickly, but just as in China, Australians have a “mindset” that does not
change as quickly as our technological capabilities. SECURITY STABILITY FRIENDSHIP LIFESTYLE |
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Each city will be analysed
according to four criteria: Trade, Investment, Industry and Commerce. Today
we are specifically discussing investment in Australia. ACCCI is working closely with
partners such as: v
Chinese Central Government Agencies v
Chinese Provincial Government Agencies v
Chinese Municipal Authorities v
Invest Australia and Invest New Zealand v
NSW DSRD Investment Division and other regions v
Australian and New Zealand City Governments Chamber works through seven
committees which cover Trade Policy, Commerce and Industry, Public Affairs
and Media, Culture and Sport, National Liaison, China Liaison and the
Secretariat. |
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The Min River is a major
waterway with a drainage area that includes about half the province. The local dialect is called minnanhua,
meaning south of the Min River and is sometimes called Hokkien, which is very
close to the Taiwan dialect. It is a
province from which there has been large migration, mainly to Singapore, the
Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. Fujian cities in which the
Chamber is interested are: v
Fuzhou - approximately 6.5 million people v
Quanzhou – 7.3 million v
Xiamen - 2. 1 million v
Zhangzhou - 4.6 million v
Sanming – 2.6 million v
Putian - 2.8 million Hubei Province has a population of
about 60 million. It is transversed by the Yangtze River and its tributary
the Hanshui, about 10 per cent% of the province consists of lakes. Its Administrative divisions consist of 25
cites, 51 counties and 4 others. Huhei cities of interest to
Chamber are: v
Wuhan - about 7.5 million population v
Huangshi - over 2.5 million v
Erzhou - data omitted v
Yichang - over 4.0 million v
Jingzhou over 6.5 million v
Jingmen - data omitted v
Xiangfan - 5.8 million v
Shiyan - 3.5 million Jiangsu Province has a
population of over 72 million people and is reasonably well known to
Australia through its Sister State Relationship with Victoria. Jiangsu cities of interest t
Chamber are: v
Nanjing - about 5.4 million v
Xuzhou - 8.8 million v
Nantong - 7.9 million v
Suzhou – 5.8 million v
Lianyangang - 4.5 million v
Wuxi - 4.4 million v
Changzhou - 3.4 million v
Changsu - data not available v
Yangchen - data not available Shandong has a population of
about 89 million and again is well known through the sister state relationship
with South Australia. Shandong Cities of interest are: v
Jinan - 5.6 million v
Weifang - 8.4 million v
Qingdao - 7.0 million v
Yantai - 6.5 million v
Zibo - 4.1 million v
Weihai – 2.5 million v
Dongying – data not available v
Jining – data not available v
Linyi – data not available Hebei/Beijing/Tianjin have a
combined population of about 90 million.
There are a number of relationships, Beijing and Canberra, Tianjin and
Melbourne and soon to be Shijiazhuang and Bankstown in Sydney. Hebei cities of interest are: v
Shijiazhuang - 8.7 million v
Baoding -10.5 million v
Handan – 8.2 million v
Tangshan - 7.0 million v
Cangzhou – 6.6 million v
Qinhuangdao – 2.7 million v
Hangshui – data not available v
Langfang – date not available |
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Perhaps a brief portrait of small
business in the province of New South Wales may help your thinking. These facts and figures are taken directly
from publications issued by the NSW Department of State and Regional
Development. Small companies in Australia are
classified as those with less than 20 employees. There are over 360, 000 small enterprises in NSW. They are: v
Australia’s top job generators and business
innovators - 45% for Australia but 75 per cent for NSW since 1995 v
The economic backbone of local commerce in urban
and regional NSW - employing a total of 1.1 million people state wide, and
300,000 in non - metropolitan Sydney v
The overwhelming majority of NSW exporting
businesses - about 80 per cent of the 8000 companies that currently export
(which is about 40 per cent of all Australian exporting companies). Structural changes in the
domestic economy, reducing international trade barriers and the growth in
internet-assisted commerce, are opening up a new spectrum of trade and
investment opportunities for small business. I draw your attention to
possible investment partnerships with NSW small enterprises that are lending
the way in the province’s growing services export sector. For example the trend growth in
service exports from NSW between 1993 and l999 was 8.4 per cent compared with
the trend growth of 6.2 per cent for export of goods over the same
period. NSW now accounts for 43 per
cent of Australia’s total service exports, and dominates national services
exports in computer and information services, professional and other business
services. Again, small and medium
enterprises are in the forefront of innovation and technology adoption and
development in NSW. The relations
between product and process innovation to wealth creation in business is
clearly understood. Moreover NSW
small firms are pragmatic about innovation, as they are about all business
trends and practices. If it reduces costs, improves
margins on goods sold, and increases market share, the small businesses in
NSW will be quick and early adopters of new approaches to business
management. They would be excellent
overseas partners for your international investments. In addition, NSW firms are often
associated with high tech research and development, and these clever
companies are helping to build the State’s reputation in fast growing sectors
such as information technology and biotechnology. Let me complete these remarks by
reference to a May 2001 study prepared for the NSW Small Business Development
Corporation which may also have relevance for the future of your manufacturing
industry. It states: The future in manufacturing
belongs to small, innovative businesses that are willing to embrace new and
emerging technologies and find new ways to serve customers in new markets. Over the next 15 years small
manufacturing businesses in NSW will establish successful networks, strategic
alliances and partnerships on a regional, national and international
basis. Manufacturing will help meet
goals for sustainable development and provide solutions to the State’s
environmental challenges. Do these words sound familiar to
your own experience? Opportunities for small
manufacturing businesses are increasing: v
Export prospects are being created by the
progressive freeing up of the international trading system. v
Every business can now achieve instantaneous
communication and collaboration with research and development partners,
suppliers, customers, distributors and manufacturing partners worldwide. v
Advanced computing and simulation technologies have
become readily available and affordable. v
Scientific and technological advances are creating
new opportunities in textiles, plastics and metal products: while changing
consumer preferences are driving innovation in food and lifestyle products. To realise these opportunities,
business owners and managers in both China and Australia need to: v
Become skilled in managing business risk. v
Acquire competencies for establishing alliances,
networks and business partnerships. v
Keep in close touch with customers and markets
worldwide. v
Invest in skilled and capable knowledge workers. |
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SISTER CITIES IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND As a strategic approach Chamber
has always focused on cities, and to this end recently helped organise and
sponsor a Sister City Forum Mid on it March, the speeches from which can be
found on the ACCCI Website at www.accci.com.au Sister city relations currently
exist in the States: New South Wales/ACT (15) v
Sydney/Guangzhou (Guangdong), (NSW/Guangdong) v
Armidale/Yanji (Jilin) v
Bathurst/Zhangjiakou (Hebei) v
Dubbo/Wujiang (Jiangsu) v
Fairfield/Hsinchu (Chinese Taipei) v
Gosford/Jinhua (Jiangsu) v
Lithgow/Pingdingshan (Henan) v
Marrickville/Keelung (Chinese Taipei) v
Mosman/Mudanjiang (Heilongjiang) v
Narrandera/Urumqi (Xinjiang), v
Rockdale/Tanggu/Tianjin Municipality v
Shaolhaven/Jiamusi (Heilongjiang) v
Wagga Wagga/ Kunming (Yunnan) v
Young/Lanzhou (Gansu) v
Canberra/Beijing (Beijing) New Zealand (6) v
Christchurch/Gansu Province v
Auckland/Shenzhen (Guangdong) v
Auckland/Kaohsiung (Chinese Taipei) v
Hamilton/Wuxi (Jiangsu) v
Hastings/Guilin (Guangxi) v
Napier/Lianyungang (Jiangsu) Victoria/South
Australia/Tasmania (17) v
Melboume/Tianjin (Tianjin), - (Victoria/Jiangsu) v
Ararat/Taishan (Guangdong) v
Ballarat/Kunshun (Jiangsu) v
Baw Baw/Jiujiang (Jiangxi) v
Bermdigo/Tianshui (Gansu) v
Dandenong/Xuzhou (Jiangsu) v
East Gippsland/Weifang (Shandong) v
Geelong/Lianyungang (Jiangsu) v
Healesville/Pingdu (Shandong) v
La Trobe/Taizhou (Jiangsu) v
Moorland/Xinyang (Henan) v
Portland/Zhanjiang (Jiangsu) v
South Gippsland/Jinshan v
Warrigul/Jiujiang (Jiangxi) v
Port Adelaide/Yantai (Shandong), - (South
Australia/Shandong) v
Port Pirie/Suizhou (Hubei) v
Launceston/Taiyuan (Shanxi), - (Tasmania/Fuzhou) Queensland/Northern Territory
(15) v
Brisbane/Shenzhen (Guangdong), -
(Queensland/Shanghai) v
Brisbane/Kaohsiung (Chinese Taipei) v
Bundaberg/Nanning (Guangxi) v
Cairns/Beihai (Guangxi) v
Caloundra/Hsing-yin (Chinese Taipei) v
Dalrymple/Daqing (Liaoning) v
Gold Coast/Beihai (Guangxi) v
Gold Coast/Taipei (Chinese Taipei) v
Harvey Bay/Leshan (Sichuan) v
Maroochy/Xiamen (Fuzhou) v
Maroochy/Chengdu (Sichuan) v
Murray Bridge/Sanmenxia (Henan) v
Toowoomba/Jingmen (Guangdong) v
Townsville/Changshu (Jiangsu) v
Darwin/Haikou (Hainan) Western Australia (2) v
Perth/Hangzhou (Western Australia/Zhejiang) v
Cockburn/Yueyang (Hunan) There are about 55 sister cities on this list. Chamber has previously advised that about
150 Sister City Agreements have been signed since 1973 and that some 80 may
be still operating to some degree. If
that is the case then a number of the missing 25 may well be with cities in
Southern China and associated with the Cantonese migration to Australia. |
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