Australia digital trade report launched in Sydney
Published 18 October 2018
On October 10, 2018, the Export Council of Australia and the Hinrich Foundation released a new report entitled “From Resource Boom to Digital Boom: Capturing Australia’s digital trade opportunity at home and abroad” at a launch event in Sydney, Australia.
The new report looks at the current state and future potential of digital trade in creating benefits for Australia’s economy.
The event was hosted by Google and featured a number of influential Australian speakers, including the Hon. Simon Birmingham, Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment. Senator Birmingham delivered the keynote address at the event, where he emphasized the importance of digital trade for Australia moving forward and underscored the necessity of seizing the digital trade opportunity.
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The report says Australia has a strong role to play in facilitating digital trade in the region— a message which was echoed by Senator Birmingham. “Australia’s initiative can send a strong signal that willing nations will not be deterred from getting on with developing the new rules required to ensure the success of the new economy,” he said.
His remarks were followed by a presentation of the report’s key findings by AlphaBeta Economist, Konstantin Matthies. Matthies explained that while digital trade already contributes significantly to Australia’s domestic economy, there is still a A$192 billion opportunity to be reaped by 2030 – with the right policies in play. The event concluded with a panel discussion featuring local Australian businesses directly involved in digital trade.
The Hinrich Foundation considers open digital trade to be a growth opportunity for countries as well as an enabler of major productivity improvements for sectors beyond the digital sector. Together with local business community groups, the Foundation commissioned AlphaBeta to size the value of the digital trade opportunity (both for exports and the domestic economy) and to assess risks for eight economies in the Asia-Pacific – Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam.
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