Australian Embassy
Republic of Korea
Embassy address: 11th Fl, Kyobo Building, 1 Jongno 1-Ga, Jongno-Gu, Seoul - Telephone: 02 2003 0100
- Home
- About us
- Visas and migration
- Travelling to Australia
- Services for Australians
- Doing business with Australia
- Study in Australia
- Media
- About Australia
- Australia-Republic of Korea relationship
- Events
- 한국어
Korea and Australia Growing Together
The Australian Perspective
The Australian Government’s ambitious trade policy is geared towards increasing economic activity, creating jobs, generating more choice for consumers, and attaining a higher standard of living for all Australians.
Australia’s experience shows how a medium sized open economy with appropriate domestic policies and strong institutions can succeed in an ever more integrated and competitive global economy. Over the past two decades, Australian governments have cut tariffs, opened capital markets to international flows and promoted competition. Australia has also instituted widespread
domestic reforms across its labour and capital market, taxation and public sectors. Australia now enjoys one of the world’s most open trading and investing environments. Australian industries and service sectors have become more efficient and internationally competitive, and new export markets have been developed for Australian goods and services.
Australia has been one of the fastest growing developed economies in the world over the past 15 years, emerging unscathed from the both the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis and the 2001 downturn in global growth. This year’s World Competitiveness Year Book ranks our economy the fourth most competitive in the Asia Pacific region. And a report by the World Bank, Doing Business in 2004, ranked Australia first out of 133 countries for best practice in business regulation.
THE AUSTRALIAN APPROACH TO TRADE AGREEMENTS
The Australian Government is committed to pursuing every opportunity to increase trade and investment opportunities for Australians:
• multilaterally through the World Trade Organization that provides the legal framework for international trade;
• regionally through institutions and other international fora, such as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), to strengthen intra-regional trade links and pursue common trade objectives;
• through free trade agreements with key trading partners that deliver substantial gains for Australian trade that cannot be achieved in a similar timeframe elsewhere, and through Trade and Economic Framework agreements.
Australia’s approach is to ensure FTAs are consistent with relevant WTO rules (Article XXIV and V9 GATT), and are complementary to multilateral liberalisation efforts. Australia recognises that some current and potential FTA partners have sensitive sectors and we have been able to successfully negotiate FTAs that cover sensitive sectors, including agriculture – with mutually beneficial outcomes.
For Australia, a decision to negotiate an FTA is based on the following conditions:
a. it delivers substantial economic benefits and real commercial gains for Australian businesses
b. it delivers benefits that are realisable in a shorter timeframe than would be possible multilaterally
c. is comprehensive in scope
d. is able to be negotiated and implemented effectively
e. it builds on existing WTO commitments
f. advances Australia’s wider foreign policy objectives
THE GROWTH OF FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS
There has been a proliferation of free trade agreements since the early 1990s. According to the WTO, during the period 1943-1994, there were only 124 FTAs. Since 1995, when the WTO was established, an additional 130 FTAs have been agreed. No-one can afford to stand still now.
Australia’s free trade agreement with New Zealand has been in place since 1983. In the past three years, Australia has concluded agreements with Singapore, Thailand and the United States. These are comprehensive agreements delivering substantial liberalisation across goods, services and investment.
Each of our free trade agreements is independent of the others, reflecting the particular nature of bilateral trade. Negotiations are currently underway with China, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia, and along with New Zealand, we are negotiating a regional FTA with ASEAN. The Australian and Japanese governments are jointly conducting a feasibility study on a bilateral FTA.
A KOREA-AUSTRALIA FTA: THE NEXT LOGICAL STEP
Australia and Korea are very important economic, political and strategic partners for each other. Korea and Australia have very complementary economies, with Australia’s strengths in raw materials/ energy exports and sophisticated manufactures and services a good match for Korea’s heavy industry mass production and R&D capabilities. The trading relationship has been, and remains, very profitable for both countries.
The economic relationship has evolved dramatically since Australia and Korea last signed an economic agreement in 1975, with services and IT major new areas of trade, ever growing people-to-people links and ever strengthening investment. Korea is Australia’s fourth largest trading partner and Australia is Korea’s 8th largest. We are increasing investment partners in each others economies. For Australia, an FTA with Korea is simply the next logical step, just as it is with Japan and China.
Given our significant economic complementarities and already substantial economic ties, an FTA would deliver substantial gains for both countries.
The Australian Perspective
The Australian Government’s ambitious trade policy is geared towards increasing economic activity, creating jobs, generating more choice for consumers, and attaining a higher standard of living for all Australians.
Australia’s experience shows how a medium sized open economy with appropriate domestic policies and strong institutions can succeed in an ever more integrated and competitive global economy. Over the past two decades, Australian governments have cut tariffs, opened capital markets to international flows and promoted competition. Australia has also instituted widespread
domestic reforms across its labour and capital market, taxation and public sectors. Australia now enjoys one of the world’s most open trading and investing environments. Australian industries and service sectors have become more efficient and internationally competitive, and new export markets have been developed for Australian goods and services.
Australia has been one of the fastest growing developed economies in the world over the past 15 years, emerging unscathed from the both the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis and the 2001 downturn in global growth. This year’s World Competitiveness Year Book ranks our economy the fourth most competitive in the Asia Pacific region. And a report by the World Bank, Doing Business in 2004, ranked Australia first out of 133 countries for best practice in business regulation.
THE AUSTRALIAN APPROACH TO TRADE AGREEMENTS
The Australian Government is committed to pursuing every opportunity to increase trade and investment opportunities for Australians:
• multilaterally through the World Trade Organization that provides the legal framework for international trade;
• regionally through institutions and other international fora, such as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), to strengthen intra-regional trade links and pursue common trade objectives;
• through free trade agreements with key trading partners that deliver substantial gains for Australian trade that cannot be achieved in a similar timeframe elsewhere, and through Trade and Economic Framework agreements.
Australia’s approach is to ensure FTAs are consistent with relevant WTO rules (Article XXIV and V9 GATT), and are complementary to multilateral liberalisation efforts. Australia recognises that some current and potential FTA partners have sensitive sectors and we have been able to successfully negotiate FTAs that cover sensitive sectors, including agriculture – with mutually beneficial outcomes.
For Australia, a decision to negotiate an FTA is based on the following conditions:
a. it delivers substantial economic benefits and real commercial gains for Australian businesses
b. it delivers benefits that are realisable in a shorter timeframe than would be possible multilaterally
c. is comprehensive in scope
d. is able to be negotiated and implemented effectively
e. it builds on existing WTO commitments
f. advances Australia’s wider foreign policy objectives
THE GROWTH OF FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS
There has been a proliferation of free trade agreements since the early 1990s. According to the WTO, during the period 1943-1994, there were only 124 FTAs. Since 1995, when the WTO was established, an additional 130 FTAs have been agreed. No-one can afford to stand still now.
Australia’s free trade agreement with New Zealand has been in place since 1983. In the past three years, Australia has concluded agreements with Singapore, Thailand and the United States. These are comprehensive agreements delivering substantial liberalisation across goods, services and investment.
Each of our free trade agreements is independent of the others, reflecting the particular nature of bilateral trade. Negotiations are currently underway with China, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia, and along with New Zealand, we are negotiating a regional FTA with ASEAN. The Australian and Japanese governments are jointly conducting a feasibility study on a bilateral FTA.
A KOREA-AUSTRALIA FTA: THE NEXT LOGICAL STEP
Australia and Korea are very important economic, political and strategic partners for each other. Korea and Australia have very complementary economies, with Australia’s strengths in raw materials/ energy exports and sophisticated manufactures and services a good match for Korea’s heavy industry mass production and R&D capabilities. The trading relationship has been, and remains, very profitable for both countries.
The economic relationship has evolved dramatically since Australia and Korea last signed an economic agreement in 1975, with services and IT major new areas of trade, ever growing people-to-people links and ever strengthening investment. Korea is Australia’s fourth largest trading partner and Australia is Korea’s 8th largest. We are increasing investment partners in each others economies. For Australia, an FTA with Korea is simply the next logical step, just as it is with Japan and China.
Given our significant economic complementarities and already substantial economic ties, an FTA would deliver substantial gains for both countries.