2GB, Money News with Ross Greenwood

ROSS GREENWOOD: Let's now cross to China, in fact Hong Kong more specifically with Steven Ciobo who is our Trade Minister, is leading the biggest delegation of Australian business people, medium and small business leaders ever seen to leave this country for China. I tell you, this has all come as a result of the Free Trade Agreement. I do note also that Andrew Robb, I understand, is on this delegation again, really the father of those free trade agreements, and it's appropriate, I think, as the former Trade Minister, that he is there with them. Anyway, let's go to Hong Kong, stopping off potentially, but Steven Ciobo is here right now. Good day, Steve, how are you doing?

STEVEN CIOBO: Good evening, Ross, I'm well.

ROSS GREENWOOD: Good, thank you. Now, the interesting part about this delegation is quite clearly, it is not necessarily farmers or miners or anybody like that. This is really about trying to get services into China, Australian services. And we certainly know that if China takes up the opportunities here in Australia, we can see what happened with Blackmores, we can see what happens with Bellamy's infant formula, all this type of thing. There really is phenomenal demand if you can get your product to bite in China.

STEVEN CIOBO: Absolutely Ross, you hit the nail on the head. As I move around both to China and Australia and I speak with people, there's a high level of interest in both countries. I mean, the Chinese are saying to me, "Steve, we'd love to be able to do business with Australia. We're particularly keen to know about opportunities A, B, and C. We're just not sure where to start." Likewise, in Australia, you speak with people that say, "We know about the size of the market in China, we know that there's demand. Especially, for example, around agricultural products. How do we secure that clean, green product into China through the supply of food stuffs for example?" There's a high level of ambition on both sides. This Australia Week in China is going to see more than a thousand delegates travel to China to explore these opportunities to build better business linkages, to build better people to people links. It's a really exciting trade mission that's taking place.

ROSS GREENWOOD: One other thing, Steve, here is that this is also confidence thing even in the business leaders because in the general community there is some perception that Australia somehow is losing a little bit of its control of its sovereignty. A lot of Chinese companies are wanting to buy farms here, wanting to buy businesses here and all that type of thing. Now that's reasonable because Australian operators clearly have to sell for that to occur, but there is also a confidence that needs to be there from the small or medium sized business leaders that they can do business with China and still maintain some sort of control of their destiny.

STEVEN CIOBO: Well one of the big advantages that we have under the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement is the opportunity for Australian businesses to invest directly into China. We've got opportunities now for restaurants, for age care facilities, just to name two examples; where Australian-based businesses can actually own and operate these facilities, these services in China. So I think it's important to keep these matters in perspective, Ross. The fact is, yes people can invest in Australia and you know what? Many economies, many developed economies around the world have opened frameworks for investment into their markets. It drives jobs and growth. We see when foreign investors invest into Australia that they often, more often than not, they actually use the capital that they invest to drive additional employment outcomes, to upgrade equipment, to upgrade facilities and that's great for Australia. Likewise, by getting access into other markets, it's great for Australian businesses because it also means that they're in the same position to expand their own product offering or their own goods into a market like China with 1.3 billion people.

ROSS GREENWOOD: I'll tell you the other thing you mentioned, age care, and I'm pleased you did because it was one of those things that really struck me and I got this from speaking with Andrew Robb over a period of time when these deals were being signed. That is he really sought that services such as age care with a massively ageing population that China has, with the expertise we have developed here in Australia as our population ages, it really means that operators who are smart and clever and can get themselves into the right place in China have tremendous opportunity.

STEVEN CIOBO: Absolutely Ross and this is a point that I cannot stress enough. Thanks to the excellent work that Andrew Robb did as Trade Investment Minister, he has given a market advantage to Australians to be able to go into China, to invest in these areas, to drive the export of services, to drive the export of goods, and that advantage is here now. We are, relative to other competitor countries, like for example New Zealand and the United States; materially better off in China for Australian operators today. That advantage will stay in place for some time, but you know what? In five years time, chances are other countries will start to catch up, so the time to strike is now and that's exactly why I think part of the reason why we've got a thousand businesses travelling to China on this trade delegation. I'd stress Ross, the vast bulk of them are SMEs, they're small to medium sized businesses, they're not large corporates. Of course, there's large corporates there, but the real focus, the real winners from these trade agreements that the coalition has delivered over the last two and a half years have been Australia's small and medium sized businesses.

ROSS GREENWOOD: I've said it many times, speaking to business leaders and forums, myself, and that is if you're a small business person, even if you're just an ordinary person with a job, think your way into a Chinese market somewhere. Get yourself and your backside into a plane to China and go and look at the opportunities there. Of course, many of these small to medium sized business leaders have got just that opportunity with this biggest ever trade delegation to leave Australia with our Trade Minister, Steven Ciobo. Steve, we appreciate your time tonight.

STEVEN CIOBO: An absolute pleasure mate.

ENDS.