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Australia has advantage to seek trade, investment in Asia: former trade minister

Xinhua, June 17, 2016 Adjust font size:

Australia has advantage over other developed countries to seek trade and investment in Asia to facilitate growth, former Trade Minister Andrew Robb said Friday.

Robb, now special envoy for trade, made the remarks on the first anniversary of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) signing.

Australia has the first mover advantage through the agreement to capitalise the region's future drivers of economic growth, he told a conference at the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

Multiple trade treaties are currently being negotiated to facilitate trade and investment in Asia, along with market and regulatory liberalization, he said, adding that traditional levers for growth - fiscal and monetary policy - have been rendered redundant due to high debt and low interest rates.

Under the ChAFTA which came into force last December, Australia has preferential access to Chinese markets for its agriculture and diversified services exports, while also gaining preferential access to Japanese and South Korean markets through its other trade agreements, Robb said.

Australia is also negotiating bilateral trade treaties with Indonesia and India as well as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and is a signatory to the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Endit