TRADE AND INVESTMENT DELEGATIONS WOULD INCREASE ACCESS TO GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS

Australian businesses would benefit enormously if Government trade and investment strategies focused more on “country to company” facilitation, according to the Chairman of the Australian Advanced Manufacturing Council, John Pollaers. “The dominance of small and medium sized enterprises in Australia means some of the biggest opportunities for Australian business growth will come from supplying large multinational companies’ global value chains,” Mr Pollaers said. “The opportunity for Australian companies – advanced manufacturers and service providers alike – is enormous,” Mr Pollaers said. Speaking at the Hannover Fair, the world’s leading trade fair for industrial technology, Mr Pollaers said SMEs could learn a great deal from understanding the strategic pathways of global industrial giants. “Where are these companies expanding? What are the new sectors, new technologies, new markets they are focusing on? What are the problems they are trying to solve? Really understanding this will give Australian companies an edge,” he said. “This has become very apparent during the Hannover Fair. Traditionally, our trade and investment facilitators have taken groups of business people on “country to country” missions. There is a good case for saying “country to company” missions should also be strongly supported. Austrade is doing some great work in increasing access for Australian SMEs into global value chains. This would give that strategy critical support.”