Australia targets RI in $7.2m campaign<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Australia is targeting Indonesia, along with
\nSouth Korea, Thailand and the Shanghai region of China, in its
\nmultimillion-dollar campaign to draw more attention to its
\ntechnological capacity.<\/p>\n
When launching the "Inventive Australia" campaign here
\nyesterday, visiting Australian Trade Minister Senator Bob
\nMcMullan said many Indonesian officials remain hazy about
\nAustralia's strength in technology and services.<\/p>\n
The 15-month campaign, which was launched in Australia last
\nmonth with a total budget of A$10 million (US$7.2 million), will
\nfocus on pushing 10 sectors: telecommunications, aerospace,
\nenvironment, marine, medical, education, food technology, energy,
\ninformation technology and financial services.<\/p>\n
"We aim to present Australia as a country well-placed to
\nsupply Indonesia's demands for hi-tech goods and services by
\nfeaturing these examples of our inventiveness," McMullan
\nexplained.<\/p>\n
He said that Australian companies occasionally miss out on
\nbids for hi-tech projects in Indonesia because not everybody in
\nthis country is aware of their technological skills.<\/p>\n
At the moment, he said, if Indonesians look for high-tech
\nproducts and services, they turn to the United States, Japan or
\nGermany.<\/p>\n
"Now add us to the list, and then choose the best products in
\neach particular case," McMullan said.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, he said, Indonesia has developed a better
\nappreciation of Australia's technological capacity compared to
\nother countries in the region due to a closer economic
\nrelationship.<\/p>\n
He said its other Asian neighbors were also unaware of
\nAustralia's fundamental economic transformation, which has
\ninvolved deregulation, internationalization and the opening-up of
\nits economy.<\/p>\n
"Some of our main markets still don't appreciate that
\nmanufactures now make up almost a third of our total exports.
\nThey don't know that services now account for nearly three
\nquarters of our gross national product and almost a quarter of
\nour total exports," McMullan said.<\/p>\n
Meetings<\/p>\n
McMullan held a meeting yesterday with his Indonesian
\ncounterpart, Minister of Trade Satrio B. Joedono. He also plans
\nto meet with Coordinating Minister of Trade and Industry Hartarto
\nand State Minister of Investment Sanyoto Sastrowardoyo.<\/p>\n
McMullan said that during his meetings with Indonesian
\ndecision-makers, he would talk about opportunities for Australian
\ninvestment in infrastructures such as airports and sea ports in
\naddition to steel and motor vehicle manufacturing.<\/p>\n
Today, he is scheduled to attend a three-day meeting between
\nIndonesian and Australian business people in Semarang, Central
\nJava.<\/p>\n
According to 1993 data, Australia held only a 4.9 percent
\nshare of Indonesia's merchandise imports of US$28.3 billion. In
\nservices, Australia's market share was only 4.1 percent of
\nIndonesia's total imports in services of US$8.9 billion. (rid)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/australia-targets-ri-in-72m-campaign-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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