Winners of the Best New Tourist Attraction award, the company were recognised for their contribution to tourism in the Southeast Asian region with their ‘Wonder Full’ Light and Water Spectacular, produced for the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort in Singapore. Laservision’s creation was selected for its creativity in design, functionality, harmony with the environment, and the overall quality experienced by audiences. “Laservision has a long and enviable track record of producing number one night time tourist attractions around the globe,” said Shannon Brooks, director of projects and marketing at Laservision. “From Singapore’s ‘Wonder Full’ Light and Water Spectacular to Hong Kong’s  ‘Symphony of Lights’; the holder of the Guinness World Record for the Largest Light & and Sound Show in the world. The recognition by ASEANTA of this success brings credibility to companies like Laservision who are at the forefront of the entertainment, attractions and tourism industry.”

Guests at the ceremony included the secretary general of the United Nations World Trade Organisation, Mr Taleb Rafai, who stated in his opening address: “With over 75 million tourists visiting the ASEAN region last year, generating 1.2 trillion dollars in tourism revenue, the ASEAN nations form a significant part of the world’s tourism industry.”

ERIA will research important structural reforms needed to rebalance Asia’s growth away from exports and towards domestic demand as a way to return to pre-downturn growth rates. It will also research the regional benefits of ASEAN’s recent free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand, China, India, Japan and Korea.

Crean said Australia’s contribution to ERIA will help unlock the considerable trade potential of the East Asian region, which is critical to Australia’s continuing prosperity.

Byrne said the size of the food, beverage and grocery industry was comparable to mining, contributing 2.5 percent to Australia’s gross domestic product.

He pointed out that Asia’s growing middle class, consumer concerns about food safety and quality, and regional trade liberalisation would stand Australia in good stead: “Australia’s brand as a clean and green nation producing reliable, healthy products is strong platform to take advantage of both rising disposable incomes and changing consumer preferences across the region.”

Trade figures for the 2008/09 financial year show that Japan was once again Australia’s largest food export market, with six Asia-Pacific countries in our top ten export destinations for food.

Byrne noted that the ASEAN free trade agreement (AANZFTA) with the 10 nations of the Association of South East Asian Nations and New Zealand will further enhance opportunities in the region through the reduction of tariffs and improvement of market access.

In February, Taiwan President Ma Ying-Jeou proposed an Economic Co-operation Framework Agreement, which covered tax reductions, market access, investment and trade, to allow Taiwan to access opportunities between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, after an earlier signing of an economic co-operation agreement between China and ASEAN.

The Taiwanese economy is in recession, projected to decline by four percent in 2009, and Ma hopes a treaty will aid in Taiwan’s recovery. However, many of his constituents fear that trade integration will lead to political integration.

Also on the table is a memorandum of understanding that will link the two countries’ financial systems and allow Chinese investors to buy Taiwanese stocks.

“Sustainable business approaches are what the community expects and what investors want,” he said. “Australia has done well in the global financial crisis, as we’ve stuck to our guns as an open economy. Now the next challenge will be to ensure Australian industry is globally engaged and environmentally sustainable.”

Austrade’s trade commissioner for Malaysia Garth Taylor highlighted opportunities for Australian companies in the ASEAN nations: “Nine out of ten ASEAN countries are signatories to the Kyoto Protocol and each is implementing significant emissions reduction and clean energy projects with considerable support from multilateral entities such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.”

Tim Harcourt will be moderating a session on ‘Australian and international business leaders – business action on climate change and the carbon market’ at the Gold Coast’s Carbon Market Expo this afternoon.

The FTA is Australia’s largest, and will account for one-fifth of Australia’s two-way trade, or more than $110 billion. The agreement spans the 10 nations of ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand, a growing economic area of about 600 million people with a combined gross domestic product of $3.1 trillion.

A statement jointly released by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Minister for Trade Simon Crean declared the elimination of tariffs on 96 percent of our exports, up from the 67 percent currently eligible: “This will support Australian industry by promoting exports, and will play an important role in supporting Australian jobs.”

The FTA, signed in February, comes at an opportune time as leaders feared some countries would resort to protectionist measures to protect their local markets.

“The initial signing of the AANZFTA in February was an important sign of the determination of nations to work together to build economic recovery, and today’s announcement cements that cooperation,” read Rudd and Crean’s statement. “The entry into force of AANZFTA is also another important step towards greater cooperation and economic integration in the region.”

The ASEAN nations are: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country and, perched on Australia’s doorstep, one with which we have a unique and important relationship. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) reports that there are more than 400 Australian companies currently operating in Indonesia in such sectors as mining, construction, finance, food and beverage, and transport, including some of Australia’s most trusted names: BHP Billiton, the Commonwealth Bank and Goodman Fielder.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics valued investment in Indonesia at $3.4 billion in 2008. Two-way trade in goods and services reached $10.3 billion in 2007/08, making Indonesia our 13th largest trading partner, and our 11th ranked export market. Australia primarily exports live animals, aluminium, wheat, crude petroleum and sugars to Indonesia, with our major service exports being education-related travel and personal travel.

In 2009/10, Australian aid to Indonesia will be worth an estimated $452.5 million, making Indonesia the largest recipient of Australian aid, and demonstrating our commitment to neighbourly relations.

Risky Business

Recent high-profile court cases on drugs, perceived complexities in doing business in Indonesia, previous terrorist attacks such as the Bali bombings, political upheaval and natural disasters such as tsunamis and earthquakes are all existing sources of negative investor sentiment for Indonesia. Cautious investor confidence has, however, returned since the Bali bombings, and was greatly enhanced by the re-election this year of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for another five-year term.

The 2009 terrorist attacks on the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels in Jakarta challenged this growing confidence. Although the attacks appeared to target foreign businesspeople, a DFAT spokesperson says early indications are that the bombings “are not significantly adversely affecting business and investor sentiment. Anecdotal evidence suggests that if they are isolated events these attacks will have little lasting impact on investment planning by Australian investors”.

Roger Donnelly, chief economist of the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC), reports in the agency’s World Risk Developments paper that prior to the bombings, the currency, share and bond markets had all been rallying and that interestingly, “the blasts completely failed to shake this optimism”.

Indonesia still faces many challenges moving forward, however. In the World Bank’s Doing Business 2010 report, Indonesia ranked 142 on contract enforcement, with investment risks largest in the mining and energy sectors, where not coincidentally foreign investment has stagnated over the past decade, according to Donnelly.

“High tax and royalty payments, an uncertain regulatory environment and concerns over the sanctity of contracts, all accentuated by the devolution of power to regional bodies, are the chief headaches,” he says.

Australia Indonesia Business Council (AIBC) national vice-president Ross Taylor agrees, noting that addressing ‘KKN’ (corruption) is a major problem for the Yudhoyono government, and that “dealing with a number of recalcitrant regencies as a result of the introduction of regional autonomy legislation presents some enormous challenges.”

Other challenges are business systems and governance Taylor adds: “Many major companies involved in telecommunications and in the resources sector still want more transparent and simplified systems for establishing and operating large scale businesses in Indonesia.”

EFIC identified that “budgetary constraints mean the government has limited capacity to invest. Roads have seen little investment over the past decade, while ports cannot accommodate the larger cargo ships. Electricity generation is struggling to keep up with annual demand growth of 8 percent.”

Donnelly also found that direct investors were holding tight and that a bigger setback for the economy than the bombings was on the horizon—oil price rises. “The fall in world commodity prices in general, and oil prices in particular, from vertiginous peaks last year has conferred several benefits: cutting Indonesia’s import bill, lowering rupiah prices of fuel and rice, damping inflation, and enabling the central bank to cut interest rates. But now that the oil price is climbing again these effects are unwinding. The budget is particularly vulnerable because it subsidises fuel and electricity prices.”

The United Nations has supported the AICHR, but said ASEAN must ensure it establishes the body as a “credible regional mechanism,” said UN human rights regional representative Homayoun Alizadeh: “There is much hope and expectation surrounding this occasion, as it represents an important commitment by states in the region to move beyond mere words.”

ASEAN’s reputation for human rights abuses has been soiled by member states such as Myanmar (Burma), which is currently ruled by the military, and Thailand, for alleged mistreatment of immigrants from Myanmar.

Myanmar will hold elections next year as part of their democratic reforms, but is unlikely to release  National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest to contest them. Suu Kyi won the last election in 1990, but the military junta has refused to recognise the result. She has spent 14 years of the past two decades under house arrest.

The ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) – signed earlier this year and expected to come into force on January 1, 2010 – will be the catalyst for regional growth, said Crean: “ASEAN’s resilience during the global economic downturn and sound economic growth in the coming years will further enhance prospects for Australian businesses when the historic FTA comes into force.”

Last week in Melbourne, Parliamentary Secretary for Trade Anthony Byrne opened a series of seminars designed to inform Australian businesses of the changes and opportunities the AANZFTA, Australia’s largest FTA, provides.

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprises of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma (Myanmar), Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The seminar series continues Australia-wide:

Brisbane: October 22

Canberra: October 27

Adelaide: October 28

Perth: October 28

Darwin: October 30

Hobart: October 30

Details: Visit www.austrade.gov.au/aseannow or call 13 28 78

Crean spoke between sessions at last week’s Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) conference and said the significant growth potential of Asia was key to global revival. Beyond China and India, he predicted Indonesia and Vietnam would play a role in strengthening an economic recovery.

The conference further delivered some promising indications for Australia, Crean added, who said all ministers showed strong political commitment towards bringing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement into effect on January next year.

“We have agreed to redouble our efforts to realise this,” he said. “Australian exporters want this FTA to come into force as soon as possible, so they can access the significant tariff reductions and other commitments it contains.”

ASEAN also recently signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with India and an investment FTA with China.