100th trade seminar helping Australian businesses export

The Gold Coast is hosting the 100thFree Trade Agreement (FTA) information seminar today, three years after holdingthe very first seminar.

Since that 2015 event, focusing onAustralia's historic FTAs with China, Japan and Korea, the Turnbull CoalitionGovernment has helped almost 4,000 businesses understand the great exportopportunities these agreements provide.

Today, following the signing of thePeru-Australia Free Trade Agreement (PAFTA) in February and the Comprehensiveand Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP-11) last month,the focus of these seminars is broadening.

Austrade Trade Commissioners toPeru and Mexico will attend the 100th FTA seminar, joined byDepartment of Foreign Affairs and Trade senior officials responsible for tradenegotiations.

A representative from GoldCoast manufacturer OzKleen Asia Pacific will also talk about exporting tomarkets like South Korea, where more than 99 per cent of Australia's goodsexports to Korea are eligible to enter duty-free or with preferential access.

In 2016, more than 80 per cent ofeligible products (by value) were benefiting from our North Asia FTAs. In thecase of Japan, almost 96 percent of eligible products exported to Japan made use of preferential access in2017.

Contributing to the high utilisation rate ofour trade agreements have been our FTA seminars, held across Australia,including in regional locations ranging from Kununurra in Western Australia toSale in Victoria, Launceston in Tasmania and Mackay in Queensland.

They provide practical information andadvice, including from Austrade, AusIndustry, the Export Finance andInsurance Corporation and DFAT, as well as exporting businesses.

The Turnbull Coalition Government is pursuingthe most ambitious trade agenda in Australian history to help more Australianbusinesses make the most of the growth opportunities created by our FTAs.

Information on the FTA seminars canbe found at www.austrade.gov.au/ftaseminars.