Speech
Address by: Peter O'Byrne, Austrade CEO
Event: Opening of PNG's Investment Promotion Authority of the Trade Expo (in association with the Australia-PNG Business Forum), 18-20 March 2007
Location: Cairns, Queensland
Date: Sunday, 18 March 2007
The (Australia-PNG Business) Forum is again this year attended by distinguished guests, including:
- the (Foreign) Minister, Mr Downer;
- Papua New Guinea Government Ministers
- Papua New Guinea’s High Commissioner to Australia, HE Charles Lepani
- Australia’s High Commissioner to Papua New Guniea, HE Chris Moraitis;
- Papua New Guinea’s Consul General, Mr Paul Nerau; and
- the Mayor of Cairns, Councillor Kevin Burns.
I’m delighted to be with you this year. We are very pleased that Ministers from both PNG and Australia have been able to join us for the Forum, which testifies to the importance of this event for both our countries.
Welcome all and thanks to Kina Securities for their sponsorship of this delightful cocktail function.
The Forum’s theme is “Australia-PNG – Business as Usual”.
And business as usual is good business for all parties.
There has been a new and significant development this year . . .
For the first time, the Australia-PNG Business Forum’s Trade Expo is being jointly sponsored by the PNG Investment Promotion Authority and Austrade to promote and highlight bilateral trade between Australia and PNG.
The aim by the Business Council of PNG and the Australia-PNG Business Council, together with Austrade, to put a greater trade focus on the Australia-PNG Business Forum, has succeeded.
For this new union we must thank the CEO of the PNG Investment Promotion Authority, Ivan Pomaleu and Austrade’s Senior Trade Commissioner, John Brand.
A range of booths are booked to showcase a full spectrum of business and government entities.
The Cairns business community has been given a valuable opportunity to showcase local businesses and seek trading partners with our closest international neighbour.
This development demonstrates a healthy business relationship between Australia and PNG –– backed by the figures.
Two-way trade stands at $3.8 billion and Australia continues to export a wider range of goods and services to PNG than any other country – about $1.5 billion worth last year.
This business relationship keeps PNG and Australia close and there are good prospects for further development.
For example, studies into value adding gas projects internally in PNG provide large-scale scope for Australian supply and construction companies.
But let’s remember that while the Australia-PNG Business Council’s membership includes major mining, banking, agricultural and service investors, it also embraces smaller companies.
We’re keen for more SMEs on both sides of the Torres Strait to do business with each other. Here’s a good illustration:
Abrasive Industrial Distributors (A.I.D.) based in Perth, is a small-to-medium supplier driving up market opportunity.
A.I.D. became aware of an abrasive materials need in PNG. Austrade’s Perth office alerted Austrade’s Port Moresby Office of a possible visit by the client.
A market visit was undertaken to timber and metal fabricators in PNG. That visit turned into orders which prompted A.I.D to revisit the market.
Annual sales are forecast at $80,000 this year, with expansion opportunities for the company in other parts of the South Pacific.
An enquiry to Austrade from Airways Hotel to source suppliers of fine merino wool cloth led to an initial $60,000 order last year for Ausfine, another SME.
I’m sure some of the booths at the Expo will remind us that there are more opportunities for Australian manufacturers and service providers in the PNG building industry.
I understand that industrial commercial and residential developments, driven by a buoyant resource sector and low interest rates, offer many opportunities to Australian exporters.
Design, build and specification of building fittings are being constructed to Australian standards and provide good prospects for upper-end quality Australian companies.
Austrade is encouraged by the positive economic outlook for PNG and we are promoting this message to businesses interested in trading with PNG.
We will be sending a trade mission to PNG in October, together with the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum holding a resource conference in Moresby.
We will run a visit program to let delegates see some of the mine sites.
Austrade is also developing a trade mission on behalf of Queensland and NSW secondary private boarding schools, which have shown renewed interest in promotion over the last 12 months.
And Austrade will be running a trade mission in June for Australian tertiary institutions in association with AusAid’s Australian Development Scholarship program.
This Expo reminds us that the building blocks of trade are laid at the people-to-people level.
Particularly by the young, when exchanges, for example, in sport and education, lay foundations for commercial relationships in the future.
Many young Papua New Guineans are educated in Australia, and bring back a wealth of future network contacts for their professional careers, so bonds remain strong.
And there are many Australians with experience of working in PNG who add their value to those bonds.
I urge all delegates and visitors visiting suppliers at the Expo to make a special effort to visit us at the Austrade booth.
Remember, Austrade can assist Australian businesses with visit programs and make appointments, minimise downtime in the market and maximise your output.
It also can convey opportunities from PNG businesses looking for Australian suppliers and partners.
It could make a big contribution to your business plans.
To all the guests from PNG and around Australia we say “welcome” and do good business during your stay here.
Let’s make sure that through the auspices of the Forum and the Expo, networking, socialising and an exchange of ideas will lead to lots of joint ventures and new friends.
Thank you.
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