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SME

SME Exports

Australia is embarking on an ambitious plan to double the number of Australian exporters by 2006. The Australian Trade Commission (Austrade), which helps Australian firms reduce the time, cost and risk involved in doing business overseas, is a leader in this effort.

Australian exporters are making rapid progress, with some surprising indivi-dual export success stories. For example, Australia sells pasta to Italy, sand and camels to the Middle East, and sake to Japan.

The nation's success has in fact been achieved by a small group of companies. Austrade research shows that only 25,000 Australian businesses export. By doubling the number of exporters by 2006, the Australian Government would generate an estimated US$ 8 billion a year in extra trade revenue for Australia.

Training Austrade staff, Building public awareness, "Exporting for the Future" are some of its programmes to improve investments.

Among Australian firms, foreign direct investment is an increasingly popular method of entering foreign markets. The Australian Government is implementing a number of measures to improve performance in this area, and Austrade, like many other TPOs, will be doing more work on investment over the coming few years.