Australia gives investors a competitive and quality choice business location in the Asia-Pacific region.
Australia is ranked the third most cost competitive country for business operations in the major industrialised world (Source: KPMG, Competitive Alternatives, 2008).
Property prices are highly competitive, with the cost of prime office space in Sydney around 65 per cent less than in London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Mumbai. (Source: CB Richard Ellis, Global Market Rents, November 2008).
Electricity costs per kilowatt hours for industrial clients (US$0.060) are cheaper in Australia than in the UK, Singapore, Germany, Hong Kong and Japan (Source: Ibid – IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2008 [2006 data]).
A popular drawcard for investors is the fact that Australia is the tenth lowest taxing country in the 30 member OECD, with its tax revenue as a percentage of GDP being 30.9 per cent compared to an OECD average of 36.2 per cent (Source: OECD 2008).
And while Australia's workforce is one of the most highly skilled and multilingual in the world, remuneration levels for management staff in Australia are lower than in the US, the UK, Germany, France, Canada and Hong Kong (Source: IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2008 [2007 data]).
Australia is third among major developed countries, behind only USA and New Zealand, in terms of providing low cost of living (Source: Ibid).
Complementing these attractive cost benefits, Australia's metropolitan areas are fully serviced by sophisticated telecommunications, transport infrastructure and utilities.
Australia's transport and logistics systems provide a mature, efficient and cost effective means of delivering products around the world. Domestic road, rail and air services between Australia's major centres are frequent, reliable and cost effective. In fact, international business considers the quality of Australia's air transportation third best in the region (Source: Ibid )
Significant investment in transport infrastructure, such as the construction of a trans-continental railway linking the north and south of the country, demonstrates a commitment to continual improvement and efficiency.
If you combine Australia's cost competitiveness and superior workforce with a low overall cost of living, the commercial advantages of doing business in Australia are clear. |