Opening the inaugural Australia-Europe Leadership dialogue, Ms Bryce said ‘Asia’s rise increased the importance of Australia’s ties with Europe, by opening up new areas of cooperation.

‘We have a common interest in Asia’s continuing development; in being constructive partners for Asian challenges; in understanding the implications of Asia’s rise for our security interests and our economic growth’, the Governor-General said.

Ms Bryce was speaking during the European Australian Business Council’s (EABC) seventh mission to Europe in early June.

Speaking prior to its departure, EABC Chairman and BKK Partners Chairman, Alistair Walton, said: ‘We are honoured that the EABC Mission will be the first economic mission led by a Governor-General of Australia. This will send a powerful message of how Australia recognises the value and extent of its relationship with Europe.’

Themes discussed in Brussels were the Asian century and securing jobs and growth.

Ms Bryce said these were of vital importance to both Australia and the EU.

‘While there is nothing inevitable about Asia’s rise, the pace and scale of change in the region is unprecedented – and outstrip that of the Industrial Revolution’, she said.

‘Millions are being lifted out of poverty, democracy is strengthening its hold, and economic prosperity and opportunity abound.

‘There are also emerging security, environmental and transnational challenges that will impinge on our shared interests in the region’, the Governor-General said.

Ms Bryce noted that Europe was experiencing a prolonged downturn marked by high unemployment, severe fiscal challenges, national and social pain.

AUSTRALIA – EUROPE BRIEFEdition › 10

Australia – Europe Brief › 1June 2013

Australia’s Governor-General, Ms Quentin Bryce, has told business leaders in Brussels that Australia and the EU have a common interest in being partners in Asia.

‘We welcome efforts to address the crisis, deepen implementation of the single market and to remain committed to trade liberalisation’, she said.

In a statement welcoming the mission, European Commission President José Barroso said the solution to current economic difficulties in Europe was not to be found by withdrawing, but by ‘stretching outwards’.

‘This is our objective with Australia. We need to build on our political like-mindedness and our solid economic relationship.

‘The EU remains Australia’s second-largest trading partner after China, and its most significant trading partner in services.

‘It is also the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) and the largest destination for Australian FDI overseas’, Mr Barosso said.

In the first visit to Australia in a decade by a Foreign Minister from Poland, Mr Radoslaw Sikorski, has drawn comparisons between the two countries, saying they were ‘natural partners in building the relationship between Europe and Asia in the tough but exciting decades to come.’

Minister Sikorski’s remarks were made in an address to industry leaders at a Polish-Australian Business Forum and Mining Seminar in Sydney in May.

He said Poland and Australia were ‘aspirational nations’ that had not yet reached their full potential.

‘I hope that we have more business between us, particularly in the mining

sector’, Minister Sikorski said.

During his visit, Minister Sikorski met Australia’s Foreign Minister, Bob Carr, and other senior government officials and business leaders. He was accompanied by a high-level delegation of Polish mining executives.

The visit provided an opportunity to highlight Poland’s strategic location in Central Europe and its active participation in the European Union, an economic zone that generates approximately one quarter of the world’s GDP and remains the world’s largest exporter.

Poland and Australia are the only two countries in the OECD that maintained economic growth during the global financial crisis.

Australia and Poland are ‘natural partners’

Europe ties important for Asia growth

> Continued on page 4

FDI in Australia rose 8.6 per cent to A$550 billion in 2012, bringing the total increase in Australia’s FDI stocks since the 2008 global financial crisis to 40 per cent.

The EU remained Australia’s single largest source of FDI stock with a 29.1 per cent share.

At an Austrade-hosted Australian Unlimited even for French investors at the International Diplomatic Academy Paris, Ms Bryce said Australia’s economic fundamentals were strong.

She said Australia was the world’s 12th largest economy, with economic growth over three per cent, unemployment at 5 to 6 per cent and government debt at around 10 per cent of GDP.

The EABC mission also visited Austria and Slovakia.

The Governor General at the Australia Unlimited reception in Paris with (from left) Ric Wells, Australian Ambassador to France, Bernard Tabary, CEO International Keolis, Yves-Louis Darricarrère, President Upstream Group, Total and Nicholas Baker, Trade Commissioner, Paris.

Australia – Europe Brief

Australia – Europe Brief2 › June 2013

Australia invites private investment in next phase of $60bn infrastructure plan

Australia will invest $230 million in its peak science body, CSIRO, to attract more international research and development, underscoring Australia’s reputation for innovation.

The 2013-14 Budget contains a provision for CSIRO to upgrade its facilities at Clayton, Victoria, and Black Mountain, ACT. At Clayton, CSIRO and Monash University are collaborating on an innovation centre, Factories of the Future. The Black Mountain upgrade will underpin its agricultural science research.

Australia’s research into marine science and nuclear medicine will also receive more funding.

The Australian Institute of Marine Science in Townsville will receive more than $30 million

to support the environmental performance of marine industries, which are projected to double in value by 2025, according to the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research, Craig Emerson.

The funding will also support the state-of-the-art National Tropical Sea Simulator facility, which will position Townsville as a global research hub, he said.

In Sydney, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) will receive $8.1 million, in addition to the $432 million the Government has invested.

ANSTO’s OPAL reactor supplies neutrons for research into climate change and water resource management. It also produces 20 per cent of the world’s irradiated silicon and 85 per cent of Australia’s nuclear medicines, used to diagnose heart disease and cancer.

“An increase in OPAL’s operations also means more material will be provided to our $168.8 million nuclear medicine manufacturing facility, where production will triple,” Dr Emerson said.

“This will cement ANSTO as one of the world’s major nuclear medicine suppliers,” he said in a statement.

Mining equipment and services provider Liebherr-Australia has started work on an $85 million expansion of its head office in Adelaide, part of the global expansion of Swiss-based Liebherr Group.

‘A significant increase in the sales of Leibherr mining and construction equipment across Australia has seen demand for our after-sales support increase dramatically’, Managing Director Greg Graham said.

The headquarters expansion includes workshops, a warehouse, component plant and distribution centre, as well as a three-storey office building. Mr Graham said the project would create 125 jobs between now and 2016.

The expansion plans follow the opening recently of Leibherr-Australia’s sales and service centre in Sydney. The new $44 million centre is a base from which to coordinate the company’s sales and services of its mobile and crawler cranes, earthmovers and other equipment in Australia and New Zealand.Liebherr-Australia makes, sells and services cranes, earthmovers and other mining equipment. It is part of the global network of privately owned Liebherr Group, headquartered in Bulle, Switzerland. It employs more than 35,000 people in 130 countries worldwide.

Liebherr in $85m expansion in South Australia

The Australian Government has unveiled the next phase of its $60 billion road and rail infrastructure investment program as part of its 2013-14 Budget, expanding its pipeline of public-private partnerships (PPP).

The second phase of the Government’s Nation Building Program, its plan to significantly upgrade Australia’s land transport infrastructure, begins in 2014-15 and includes three major projects ‒ the Melbourne Metro rail tunnel, the Brisbane Cross River Rail and Sydney Motorways links and extensions.

Each project has a significant private finance component, which in the Melbourne and Brisbane projects, is through an availability-model PPP. All three major projects are part of the National Infrastructure Construction Schedule.

The second phase of the Nation Building Program extends to 2018-19.

Under the first phase of the plan, the Australian Government invested $36 billion from 2009-2014.

Australia’s R&D facilities get fresh Budget funding

DSM Pharmaceutical Products will open a new facility in Australia to manufacture drugs for early-stage clinical trials of treatment for arthritis, cancer and other diseases.

DSM Pharmaceutical Products is wholly owned by Dutch company Royal DSM, which has said the $62 million facility would make drugs on contract for local companies.

‘We are particularly delighted to be bringing our world-class operating ability to the Asia-Pacific region, an important growth area in our strategic development in the biopharmaceutical field; to provide further value to our customers in this region and around the globe’, DSM Pharmaceutical

Products President and Chief Executive Alexander Wessels said.

The Queensland State Government formed research body BioPharmaceuticals Australia, which has partnered with DSM to custom-make medicines for the pre-trial and trial stages and operate the new facility in Brisbane. The plant is part of Australia’s $345 million Translational Research Institute, located on Brisbane’s Princess Alexandria Hospital campus.

Netherlands-based Royal DSM is a global science-based company active in health, nutrition and materials. Its products include food, dietary supplements, personal care, pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

Dutch pharmaceutical company to open plant in Australia

Australia is one of the world’s major nuclear medicine suppliers

Australia – Europe Brief

Australia – Europe Brief June 2013 › 3

Australia will invest more than $36 million in expanding the nation’s food products and services exports, including $28.5 million to increase the value of food exports to Asia and $2 million to build Australia’s reputation as a quality global food and related technology brand.

The Government’s National Food Plan includes a strategy for a 45 per cent lift to Australia’s $30.5 billion a year food export market by the year 2025.

The plan includes a strategy for building

a globally recognised food and related technologies brand for Australia.

Austrade will lead the program to build the national food brand, which will involve research and industry consultation. It will be used across the sector to enhance the reputation of Australian food as a clean, green and premium product. The $28.5 million will be invested in the Asian Food Markets Research Fund to tackle roadblocks to export, identify exactly what foods and services Asia needs and wants, and, ultimately, help Australian

businesses boost their sales to the region.

Asia’s middle class is forecast to grow six-fold to 3.2 billion over the next 20 years. Australia produces more than twice the food it consumes and exports high-quality products that are in strong demand around the world.

The Food Plan aims to ensure Australia has the workforce and research capabilities to secure its place worldwide as a high-quality, safe, innovative and sustainable food, services and technology centre.

Australia’s National Food Plan earmarks over $36m to expand food exports

› REMOTE RENEWABLE ENERGY OPPORTUNITIES IN AUSTRALIA Dates: 3 July 2013 Locations: Webinar (online)

Large energy users in Australia are seeking alternatives to grid-supplied energy. To register for this webinar on investment opportunities, please follow this linkhttps://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/365995938Deadline for registration is 27 June.

› BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN AUSTRALIA’S HEALTH MARKET Date: 8 July 2013 Location: Erlangen, Germany

Contact: Stefan.Augustin@austrade.gov.au

› ICSAT 2013: SUSTAINABLE AUTOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGIES Date: 25-27 September 2013 Location: Ingolstadt, Germany

Contact: Stefan.Augustin@austrade.gov.au

French premium wine market leader, Pernod Ricard, has found that Australia’s commitment to innovation helped turn the Jacob’s Creek brand into a worldwide investment success story.

At a seminar held by Austrade in Paris on investment opportunities in Australia’s globally integrated agricultural sciences sector, Pernod Ricard’s Group Chief Learning Officer Alban Marignier explained that the French company acquired Jacob’s Creek in 1989. The wine is made from grapes sourced largely from the Barossa Valley region in South Australia.

‘Jacob’s Creek has now become one of the most popular wine brands in the world, distributed in over 70 countries’, Mr Marignier said.

Mr Marignier said Pernod Ricard’s success can be attributed to a favourable economy and wine-growing climate, good soil and the French owner’s vision.

‘Working with Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, for instance, helped us optimise production, creating a ‘win-win’ situation for both the company and wine growers.’

Mr Marignier said companies needed to make an effort to innovate.

‘With CSIRO, other agencies and internal experts, Pernod Ricard has developed such pioneering techniques as recommending the optimal time of day to harvest grapes.

‘In terms of brands, Australia has also adapted to the wine glut to encourage ‘premiumisation’ of its wine category. This is illustrated by the simple nature of Australian wine labelling: the ‘brand’, the ‘grape’ and the ‘region’ of production, which encourages clarity, and has been a clear marketing edge over the years.’

Pernod Ricard is now leveraging its Australian viticulture and winemaking capabilities to expand into Asia, and China in particular.

‘ Jacob’s Creek has been very successful in acting as a vehicle in developing the Chinese market: to create a culture of wine consumption and appreciation, and of brand awareness.’

More than 30 representatives of French companies attended the seminar, which canvassed a range of investment options in Australia’s agricultural science and food production sectors.

Jacob’s Creek, a French investment success

Australia opens ICT spend to the cloud

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The Australian Government is opening its annual $5 billion a year expenditure on ICT to cloud computing by requiring federal agencies to consider cloud services for new information technology purchases.

The decision is part of the National Strategy for Cloud Computing, released at the CeBIT Conference in Sydney.

Under the strategy, the Government aims to boost innovation and productivity using cloud services. It will support a vibrant cloud services sector through competition, a highly capable technology workforce and regulatory settings that promote growth and foster innovation.

In the Business Software Alliance’s 2013 Global Cloud Computing scorecard, Australia ranked second only to Japan in cloud computing readiness out of the 24 countries that make up 80 per cent of the global ICT market.

The strategy is available at www.dbcde.gov.au/cloud

Australian innovation helped build the Jacob’s Creek brand.

Australia – Europe Brief › 4June 2013

Australia – Europe Brief

For further information or to subscribe, email: Europe@austrade.gov.au or access the electronic version on austrade.gov.au/Europe Media inquiries: Paul.sanda@austrade.gov.au

According to the Chairman of Australia’s new Manufacturing Industry Innovation Precinct, Albert Goller, that makes it an exciting place for European investors.

‘Our market is not to copy and make things cheaper but to innovate and be flexible and agile in the market place’, Mr Goller said.

The Precinct, based in Melbourne, is funded under the Australian Government’s $1 billion Industry and Innovation plan, announced in February.

‘We want to bring agility, connectivity and collaboration to the table’, said Mr Goller, who is former Chairman and Managing Director of Siemens Ltd in Australia and New Zealand.

‘Australia has one of the best programs in the world to support companies that are working here and we will be encouraging industry and universities to work closely together.’

Mr Goller argues Australia is a wealthy established market for companies to enter, with innovative products that value add to Australia’s existing resources.

‘We have a lot of resources in Australia such as iron ore or timber that are ripe

for a European company to value add their product’, he said.

By developing those sophisticated products in Australia, companies alleviate the threats to Intellectual Property and design copyright that many Europeans are wary of in markets such as China or India.

‘We offer sustainability, control of the value chain and speed in terms of adapting to changing market requirements’, said Mr Goller.

‘Australia is a developed and expensive society which also makes it a very lucrative market. Australia is the 12th largest market in the world so it is much larger than a test market, as it is sometimes described’, he said.

Once a product has been introduced into the Australian market it could then be rolled out in the enormous Asian markets on Australia’s doorstep.

‘Australia is not a mass market. It has smaller factories but a very flexible, well-educated workforce’, said Mr Goller.

Mr Goller said Australia will be even more flexible than some of the European countries because of the more complex EU regulation.

Australian manufacturing set to challenge status quo In Australian manufacturing, the future lies in doing things differently and challenging the status quo.

‘Speed has to become our target in the future’, he said. ‘We are challenging the status quo.’

Mr Goller was Chairman and Managing Director of Siemens Ltd in Australia and New Zealand from 2002 to 2012. He has also held senior executive roles with Siemens in Canada and Germany.

Austrade’s Senior Trade Commissioner for Central Europe, Steve Rank, said Australia offered Polish firms a way into Asian markets, whilst Poland was an excellent way into and access point for Australian firms looking to do business in Europe due to its location in the ‘heart’ of Europe.

‘Poland looks west as a member of the EU and understands and has good trade ties to the east – to Ukraine and Russian markets’, Mr Rank said.

At the Sydney Forum, Ernst and Young chief economist for Poland, Marek Rozkrut, said Poland and Australia’s economies complemented each other.

‘Polish GDP cumulative growth in 2008 to 2012 amounted to 18.1 per cent, which is by far the best result in the EU-27 and one of the best in the OECD’, he said.

Mr Rozkrut outlined opportunities for Australian companies in areas of infrastructure investment, Public Private Partnerships, and high-tech manufacturing among others.

Examples of successful investment included Polish company KOPEX, which has operations in the Hunter Valley, and Macquarie Bank, which has a significant involvement in the development of a new container terminal at Gdansk.

Companies interested in finding out more about doing business in Poland or a Australian mining mission to Europe later this year can contact Steve Rank at steve.rank@austrade.gov.au.

Australia and Poland are ‘natural partners’> Continued from page 1

Albert Goller

Food Precinct partners namedThe Australian Government has selected two Melbourne universities to create a new Food Industry Innovation Precinct, part of its plan to boost the nation’s reputation for research and development (R&D), add value across the food-supply chain, and expand scope for collaboration between research institutions and business.

Under the agreement, RMIT and Latrobe universities will work together to create the precinct which will initially be at Latrobe’s R&D Park in the northern Melbourne, where precinct partners will have access to pilot food preparation and tasting laboratories. The campus is also near industry partners in dairy, meat and other food sectors.

‘Establishing the precinct at R&D Park for an initial 12-month period will enable all potential hosts to prepare more detailed bids to host the precinct permanently’, the Minister for Industry and Innovation, Greg Combet, said.

Mr Combet added that the industry-led initiative, which aims to link research and business, would make the food sector more attractive to investors. It would also help meet the goals of the Government’s National Food Plan.