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Business Connections
Connect with Australia China businesses through our online marketplace. Job Connections
A new way for Australians and Chinese to find employment in each others countries.
Events Connections
Click images below for the many EVENTS in China and Australia
Book Connections
The site to find the many books on China.
Back Issues
| EXPO 2010: Delivering benefits to Australian business | | Print | |
| Nov/Dec 2008 | |||
 Australian Minister for Trade, Simon Crean, discusses the Government's economic agenda for Australia's participation in the Shanghai World Expo 2010.At the recent Beijing Olympic Games, Australia achieved not only great sporting success, but also significant wins for Australian exports. The Business Club Australia program, which I jointly opened in Beijing with the Prime Minister, generated both immediate and longer-term benefits for Australian business, from small and medium enterprises through to Australia's biggest corporations. As attention shifts from Beijing post Olympics, the Government's focus is on the opportunities presented by the Shanghai World Expo in 2010. If the Beijing Games were successful in raising Australia's profile as a country to do business with, the opportunities for boosting two-way trade and investment presented by the upcoming expo cannot be overstated. With the expo opening day only 18 months away, construction plans for the Australian pavilion, and preparations for our associated cultural, communications and business programs, are advancing well. Since my visit to the expo site in April this year, where I met with China's Commissioner General Ambassador Hua Junduo, the Chinese have made great strides in preparing the expo site. And our own plans are taking shape rapidly. With a total project value of A$83 million, this is the largest investment ever made by Australia in a world expo. It reflects not only the importance of the Australia-China relationship, but also the Government's intention to take full advantage of the biggest world expo in history. Organisers expect more than 175 countries and at least 40 organisations to participate, and forecast that over the six months of the expo at least 70 million visitors, some 95 percent of them Chinese citizens, will attend. We expect up to seven million people to visit our pavilion. For Australia, the expo theme could not be more appropriate - ‘Better City, Better Life' provides an ideal starting point to showcase Australian innovation, creativity and achievement in a wide range of sectors related to the core concepts of liveability and sustainability - areas in which Australia has a very good story to tell. At the inaugural Ministerial meeting of the Ministerial Council on Industry and Trade, which I chaired on August 5, ministers from the states and territories agreed to work collaboratively to deliver trade and investment benefits from Australia's participation in the expo. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which is leading the project on behalf of the Government, is focusing on the most effective way to leverage the Government's significant commitment to this project to yield these benefits. A proposed program of activity will be presented at the next ministerial meeting, which I expect to chair in the first quarter of 2009. The centrepiece of these efforts is the pavilion's business program - a series of over 200 events held in the pavilion's high-quality VIP area. This highly targeted business program will include: tailored events for the pavilion's corporate sponsors and our state and territory partners; high level visits and bilateral activities; and promotions highlighting education, tourism, and key sectors that reflect both established and emerging priorities in our growing trade and investment relationship with China. These range across minerals and energy, (including clean and renewable energy technologies), food and agribusiness, legal and financial services, telecommunications, and design and urban planning. Working with a broad range of stakeholders, we will tailor the business program events to ensure that we can deliver maximum benefit to Australian business. Buyer recruitment initiatives, corporate networking and business matching activities will be run in conjunction with stakeholders such as Austrade. Trade missions and sectoral promotions will highlight Australian innovation and expertise, particularly in our rapidly growing services sector. And seminars and corporate promotions will highlight opportunities for two-way investment. What makes this opportunity unique is the scale of the expo and the fact that these activities will occur over a six-month period in a clearly identifiable, Australian context - all in the entrepreneurial heartland of China. Of course, none of this is a substitute for the hard work and persistence companies need to demonstrate to succeed in this very tough market. But if you're already active in, or see a future in China, you have to ask if you can afford not to be involved. I encourage all Australian companies active in the China market to leverage the Government's investment in the 2010 Shanghai World Expo by engaging in the business program. I look forward to further exploring ways to take advantage of expo opportunities through my regular dialogues with business and in my future visits to China. ■ To register your interest in the business program, and to receive further information, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit www.expo2010.com.au BUSINESS PROGRAM KEY INDUSTRY SECTORS
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