State targets hi-tech trade - South Australia

Business Asia, Sept 13, 1999

South Australia will focus on information technology industries in the new millennium as part of its continuing push into Asia, Trade and Industry Minister Iain Evans says.

The State will also expand its interests in sectors such as food and wine, call centres, manufacturing and electronics.

Evans said despite the region's troubles, Asia remained an important part of the State's trade equation, with over one-third of total exports going to the region.

He said South Australia had come through the Asian economic crisis relatively unscathed due to the state's diversified trade portfolio.

"Even though trade turned down in some sectors in Asia, there was an upturn in others, so on balance we haven't done too badly," he said.

"Our exports over the past year have actually risen compared to the rest of Australia. That indicates we've diversified our trade to the right regions such as Europe and the United States.

"Where the rest of Australia had a slight fall in exports, we actually had a slight increase of about 5 to 6 per cent."

The Minister said the government would continue to promote the growth of the State's burgeoning IT industries.

"Without putting firm numbers on it, we certainly see IT as one of the growth areas. It's an area where we feel we can really compete in," he said.

"We're very lucky in South Australia to have three excellent universities servicing a population of only about 1.5 million people.

"So access to a highly skilled workforce and flexibility in the universities to deliver the training companies want are all advantages for the State, as is our low-cost location."

Evans said South Australia would continue to target food and wine exports into Asia, with plans to raise trade from A$5 billion a year to A$15 billion by 2010.

Other sectors the government will target for growth include call centres, electronics and manufacturing.

The South Australian government has established a network of representative offices in Shandong, Jinan, Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Manila.