Retell Lecture

Thanks for this opportunity to speak about Australia's engagement with Asia from the perspective of trade and in particular to say a few words about what Austrade is doing in this, in this space. And I'm particularly pleased to be addressing trade and investment, not just of course because these two things are inextricably linked but also of course because Australia reports to Australia's first ever Minister for trade and investment. Asia's importance to Australia's economy is growing by the day. It is one of the most important factors to consider. When assessing the International conditions for national prosperity. Asian demand for our exports has helped Australia manage the global financial crisis better than most other developed economies, in fact, probably better than all other developed economies. An investment from Asia has added to the productive capacity of the economy and to overall productivity. In 2013, seven of our top ten export markets were in Asia and represented 65 percent of our total exports. Asian markets and Australia's geographic, geographic proximity are critical not just for our trade ties and our capacity to access important global supply chains, but also to the level of foreign investment in Australia. FDI has grown markedly in Australia over the past decade. In fact, it has more than doubled from about two hundred ninety two billion dollars to 630 billion dollars in 2013.