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Australia and Singapore have today signed a landmark Digital Economy Agreement (DEA) to further enhance digital trade opportunities for businesses and consumers in both our nations.

Australia recorded its largest financial year trade surplus in 2019-20, off the back of booming goods exports, according to new data released today from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Initiative 4.1 under the Tasmanian Trade Strategy 2019-2025 (‘the Strategy’), the Accelerating Trade Grant Program helps Tasmanian businesses to collaborate, expand their presence and introduce Tasmanian products and services to the world.

The global trading landscape is shifting dramatically. Previously disregarded potential crises are now all too real. To succeed beyond Covid-19 and future catastrophes, Australian traders will need to take account of the risks seriously and make operational changes that allow them to adapt to short-term disruptions and stay competitive in the longer-term.

South Australia’s space credentials have attracted Japanese robotics software company, SE4 to Lot Fourteen as the latest company to move into the Defence and Space Landing Pad. The company also received funding under the South Australian Landing Pad program.

In line with the Government’s recent announcement of an additional $241.9 million, The International Freight Assistance Mechanism (IFAM) will continue to support airfreight capacity in and out of Australia.

The world as we know it will never be the same again. This year we have had to deal with the largest global healthcare crisis of our lifetime. Every single person on the planet has been affected by COVID-19 in some way or another.

The COVID-19 crisis has led the ECA to embrace a multilayer strategy aimed at building capacities for response, resilience and recovery particularly geared to provide support to our members, SME exporters and the broader trade community.

In the Australian context, some of the measures adopted by our Federal and State governments and their agencies are summarised below. The general intent has been to “keep the borders open” but we are now at a stage of planning what additional measures may need to be adopted to assist the recovery of the international supply chain and the position of Australian exporters and importers.

Six years after Australia gained market access for table grapes to Japan and South Korea in 2014 (after many years of negotiation by the Australian Government, supported by industry and state government partners) – and amidst possibly the most difficult economic conditions in decades – Australian grapes growers and exporters are enjoying bumper sales to both Japan and South Korea.

Across several national projects and initiatives, the Export Council of Australia (ECA) will be partnering with NSW based multi-award-winning social enterprise, Gandhi Creations, to further enhance bilateral trade relationships between Australia and nations across the globe.

Australian exporters reliant on airfreight will continue to have access to key international export markets, thanks to a $240 million funding injection to help keep international freight routes and flights operating.

When aerospace technology company HeliMods was commissioned to deliver essential assets while the country is experiencing a pandemic, extreme measures had to be taken. Based in Caloundra in regional Queensland, Helimods’ international market consists mostly of US and European clients with teams deployed globally to service demand.

There are encouraging signs that Asia will lead the global economic revival. Decisive measures to control the pandemic have resulted in lower infection rates in Asian countries relative to other parts of the world, supporting policymakers’ ability to reopen their economies sooner. 

In 2019, Chayaa Nanjappa, Founder of Nectar Fresh, was selected to participate in the Australia Awards Women Trading Globally Program held in Melbourne and Sydney for two weeks. Supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the program included a range of engaging sessions on export readiness, discussions with female business leaders, and site visits with Australian exporters.

We have all heard of and used Incoterms® but what is the history of the Incoterms® and how can we understand clearly how to use them?

The Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) formally enters into force on 5 July 2020 and will open new opportunities for Australian and Indonesian businesses, primary producers, service providers and investors.

The global economy has changed, and so too have some of the key drivers impacting currency markets.

We are headed into uncharted waters in the second half of this year, as governments gradually ease their COVID-19 lockdowns and travel restrictions to revive economic growth. Only time will tell whether the global economy can shift to a ‘new normal’, or if it will be a case of two steps forward, three steps back.

NSW small and medium exporters will benefit from almost $13 million in support programs aimed at creating jobs and supporting the regions, including a $10,000 Exporter Assistance Grant.

COVID-19 led Governments around the globe to take a range of unprecedented measures and while these measures helped control the health crisis they have inflicted unavoidable damage in the economy.

In 2019, the ECA welcomed Anya Lim of ANTHILL Fabric Gallery to Brisbane and Sydney on the Australia Awards Women Trading Globally Program, supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Anya is one of a growing number of young female social entrepreneurs in the Philippines.

The Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Simon Birmingham has expressed thanks and acknowledged the contribution of outgoing Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Fahey.

We are proud to announce that we have launched a partnership with OFX to help Australian businesses’ take advantage of opportunities in the global market and move money globally with confidence.  

China has recently imposed an import suspension on four Australian abattoirs.

Details of the two International Freight Assistance Mechanism (IFAM) webinar recordings available for viewing. 

The ECA is excited to hear news from WA, that Perth-based company, Linear Clinical Research, has been selected to undertake a trial of one of the first vaccines in the world to demonstrate safety and immune response against COVID-19.

A new network of 15 air freight service providers and freight forwarders has been established by the Morrison-McCormack Government to accelerate delivery of agricultural and fisheries exports into key overseas markets.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is changing the way we live and work—and the agricultural industry is no exception.Australia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries are essential to our country’s food and fibre security, so keeping our industries strong and viable is a priority.

Australian exporters impacted by the COVID-19 crisis will now have access to business-saving loans between $250,000 and $50 million under a new $500 million capital facility to be administered by Export Finance Australia.