Riding high on steady growth.
Few countries can stake their claim to as many achievements as Australia can. The list, it seems, is growing just as steadily as the economy which, according to experts such as Dr John Edwards, Chief Economist, HSBC Bank for Australia, is in its 16th year of uninterrupted expansion, the longest boom in its history. "In the last 15 years, wealth has more than doubled, output has increased by nearly two thirds, the capital stock by more than half, labour productivity by a little under half and the number of jobs by a quarter. The growth of income per person has been faster in Australia over the period than in Canada, the US, the UK or New Zealand," says Edwards in the Lowy Institute's publication Quiet Boom: How the long economic upswing is changing Australia and its place in the world (courtesy: Invest Australia).
Peter Linford, Consul General and Senior Trade Commissioner, Australian Consulate General in Dubai, seconds Edwards's opinion. "Our GDP performance has been extraordinarily good (2.4 per cent in 2006). Australia has, in fact, enjoyed year-on-year positive growth for more than 15 years, and even during global economic shock periods." The good times are set to continue with the IMF forecasting GDP growth to be around 2.6 per cent in 2007.
Linford says that there's been a huge demand for resources and oil and gas, and share prices of these companies have performed well. Australia's agricultural products, especially meat and wool, and mineral resources including coal and metals such as gold are also in demand," he says. Merchandise exports were valued at about A$164 billion (about Dh501.4 billion) and imports at about A$176 billion (about Dh538.1 billion) in 2006. Main destinations for merchandise exports were Japan, China, Republic of Korea, the US and New Zealand.
Trade and exports
The services trade, exports in particular, was valued at about A$44 billion (about Dh134.4 billion), with countries such as the US, the UK, Singapore, Japan and China being the top five destinations.
"Australia has become far more sophisticated with its exports and with value-added products. We have been very strong in services exports and it shows that our skill sets are in demand globally. We have a population of approximately 20 million people living in a big country with many resources. However, we cannot sustain our economy just by relying on the domestic market. For instance, the US economy is strongly focused on the domestic market as the population there numbers more than 250 million people. So to maintain a successful economy, Australia has to export its services and products. As our population increases, the domestic market in Australia will also gain more importance in the equation," says Linford.
Linford says that with China and India's economies doing so well, the situation also poses huge opportunities for Australia.
In addition to growing exports, foreign investment in Australia is also growing on account of its geographical closeness to markets in Asia and opportunities present across different sectors. According to Invest Australia, the country's appeal as an investment destination is evident by the 90 per cent increase in the stock of foreign direct investment in the country over the past five years. This year, the value of foreign investment in Australia was about A$1,433 billion (about Dh4,380.29 billion).
Contributions from the state governments and territories have also helped fortify Australia's strong economic position. According to Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Australian Bureau of Statistics, the gross state product (GSP) of the Australian Capital Territory for 2005-06 was about A$19.47 billion (about Dh59.49 billion) and two per cent of the country's GDP, while that for the Northern Territory was A$12.24 billion (about Dh37.4 billion) and two percent of the GDP. For 2005-06, New South Wales's GSP was about A$3,320 billion (about Dh10,148 billion) and 33.1 per cent of the GDP.
Victoria GSP was about A$233 billion (about Dh712 billion) and 24.2 per cent of the GDP, while Queensland's share in the country's GDP (2005-06) was 18.9 per cent. Western Australia GSP was about A$119 billion (about Dh363.7 billion) and proportion of the national GDP was 12.3 per cent.
New South Wales is said to have the largest share of private business investment in Australia. In 2005-06, A$40 billion (about Dh122 billion), or 28 per cent of national business investment, occurred in the state. Western Australia, on the other hand, which is home to 10 per cent of Australia's population, contributes to 30 per cent of the nation's export earnings.
Diverse and productive
Pankaj Savara, Regional Director, (Middle East and North Africa), Western Australia Trade Office, says that Western Australia (WA) is one of the most productive and diversified mineral and petroleum-rich regions in the world. It is the powerhouse of the resources industry not only in Australia, but also for the Asia-Pacific region as a whole. It has more than 50 mineral and petroleum products being produced in commercial quantities worth around $21 billion (about Dh77.1 billion), annually.
Growth in different state economies as well as at the national level has also had its impact on the population, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) flagship publication Measures of Australia's Progress: Summary Indicators, Australia's real net worth per person rose at an average rate of one per cent each year between June 1996 and June 2006, reaching almost $237,000 (about Dh870,499) in 2006. Real net disposable income per person grew at an average rate of three per cent each year between 1995-96 and 2005-06. Unemployment and underemployment both fell in the ten years to 2006. The unemployment rate fell from 8.2 per cent in 1996 to 4.9 per cent in 2006.
These factors have contributed to the high standard of living in Australia, which has been rated as the third best place to live in by the UN Human Development Index 2006. In addition to a good lifestyle, immigrants from places as diverse as China, India, Vietnam, Italy, Greece and the Middle East go to Australia to avail of benefits such as a quality education and equal opportunities in the workplace. These communities, together with the indigenous aboriginal culture, have brought in their influences into areas such as food, art and music.
Education and tourism
Australia's education sector attracts thousands of foreign students who enroll at higher education and vocational education institutes in the country every year. The official government website for international students shows that there were 332,413 enrollments of full-fee international students in Australia, a 15.4 per cent increase on the same period in 2006.
Tourism is another major sector. According to ABS statistics, 2006 was a good year for the sector as Australia had 5.532 million inbound travellers. The country in fact, was rated as the destination that travellers most want to visit for an extended break in a recent 'Lonely Planet Travellers Pulse' survey. Most wanted tourist spots include the Gold Coast in Queensland — home to beaches, amusement parks and other attractions; the Great Barrier Reef — corals that cover more than a 2,000 kilometre long area; the Great Ocean Road; the outback; the ancient aboriginal site of Uluru; Broome; Sydney harbour; Opera House and Bondi Beach.
The country also has a lot to offer for people who love Aussie Rules football, rugby, cricket, and field hockey. In fact, sport is a passion with Australians, who have a natural affinity for the outdoors.
According to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), around one in three Australians (29 per cent) play sport or exercise twice a week or more. And then there's the famed Australian cuisine. The country has some of the world's freshest and finest produce, seafood and meat. The country is also renowned for its great seafood such as yabbies, mud crabs, blue swimmer crabs, oysters, scallops and barramundi. Australian meats, especially beef (Wagyu) and lamb (Victorian).
Australia has different facets: it's modern but ancient, urban yet relaxed, confident yet casual, and successful but still ambitious. It's also a leader among nations.
