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Its official: we are ‘hugging the panda’ again. China is again our number one trading partner in the new rankings released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). In the financial year 2008-09, China accounted for $83 billion or 14.7 per cent of our total trade in goods and services, with Japan in second place at $75.3 billion (or 13.4 per cent of total trade). China was also our top source of imports, whilst Japan remains Australia’s top export destination. In fact, four out of our five top export destinations are in Asia. They are Japan, China, Korea and India, followed by the United States. The ‘Big 4’ account for just under $140 billion or nearly half of our total exports. Read the rest of this entry »

The Airport Economist hit the streets of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) recently and tried the Saigon Taxi driver test. You can mention a plethora of international household names and have to really work through them in broken Vietnamese and broken English to get where you want to go on Saigon’s busy streets. But there’s one name every taxi drivers knows in Saigon: “ARRR – MITT”, that is R.M.I.T. – The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University – which is making quite a splash since setting up in South Saigon in 2001.
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The upcoming Austrade Microsoft mission, ‘Environment, Technology and Entrepreneurship’ will afford Australian firms a unique opportunity to showcase their technology solutions and better understand channels to market in the US. The program offers the unique opportunity to access US Microsoft executives in an intimate setting that promotes open dialogue and frank discussions. The information gained will include early insight into Microsoft product development, first mover advantage in positioning in the US market, future technology trends and the technology platforms required to meet the growing needs of environmental and utilities industries. Read the rest of this entry »