More than 40 Australian companies successfully expanded their operations to the UK last year with the help of UKTI, joining around 1,000 Australian businesses that are already operating there.

The competition invites those looking to expand into the UK to submit their business plan online by 3 February 2012, with finalists to be announced later that month. Go UK winners will be flown return by British Airways to London, and will be offered meetings with potential business partners, contacts and networking opportunities, a free limited company, business services and ongoing support from UKTI.

Director General of UKTI in Australia and New Zealand Richard Morris, says now is the opportune time to launch in the UK; especially those businesses with an eye to expand further into Europe.

“The UK is the easiest place in Europe to do business and has the least barriers to entrepreneurship in the world. Just as Australia can be a gateway to Asia, the UK is the gateway to Europe and a combined population of around 500 million people.”

Promoting the UK as the world’s sixth largest economy, Morris says that businesses of all sizes should be looking to apply to Go UK. “Everyone has heard about Macquarie, Westfield, BHP Billiton, NAB and others at the big end of town. But not so many people know about the SMEs that crack the UK market every year.”

Adding that the UK’s economy is poised to grow with the Olympics just around the corner, and that the Australian dollar is continuing its strong value, Morris is keen to promote Go UK as a promising entry into the market, following the success of a similar initiative, UK Market Entry, run last year.

To enter, visit here.

Dumping, the practice of selling product at a price less than its value to edge out competition, is discouraged as an unfair practice. According to the US, Chinese companies have only been able to sell the pipes at less than their true value due to financial assistance from their government.

The US Department of Commerce will now “initiate anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations on imports” in response to a petition backed by organisations including the United States Steel Corp and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union.

According to the department: “If the ITC [International Trade Commission] determines that there is a reasonable indication that imports are materially injuring, or threatening material injury to, the domestic industry, the investigations will continue, and Commerce will be scheduled to make its preliminary CVD [countervailing duty[ determination in December 2009 and its preliminary AD [antidumping[ determinations in February 2010.”

China has labelled the potential imposition of tariffs “protectionist”.

LG Electronics, Panasonic, and Samsung have been collectively fined US$37 million for running a cartel in cathode-ray tube television sets from as far back as 2003.

The commission found that the three companies had met regularly to set minimum target prices for the TVs: “It substantively restricted competition in sales of certain types of cathode-ray tubes, which ran against public interest.”

A spokesperson from Panasonic said they would consider an appeal.

To maximise your export opportunity and increase your chances of success, it’s important to focus on what you want to achieve. That way, you’ll have a clear vision to plan for and work towards. So, where to begin? Use these three steps to ensure you are export ready.

Step 1: Discover everything you can

Start by investing time in researching how other businesses have set about exporting their product. Use the internet to find case studies on your intended market, as well as other industries, and learn from their achievements and mistakes.

You should also extensively research your competition to understand their offering and work out how you differ to what they provide. Once you know, you will be in a better position to market your company’s unique proposition to foreign buyers so that they snap up your product ahead of the field.

Another useful and accessible way to build up your exporting knowledge is to attend seminars and enrol in short courses on the export marketing process, export documentation and international business. In this environment, you will also meet like minded people who have good ideas and advice for you to learn from.

If you prefer to have experts on your side, seek out an export specialist to guide you along the journey and fast track the process. They should be able to help you carry out important market research and feasibility studies to minimise costs, associated risks and help you to connect with your target market.

Step 2: Plan your exporting

With research underway, it’s also the right time to develop an effective action plan based on what you are learning. The world’s most successful exporters always have an export plan in place. So, increase your chances of becoming one of them by carefully developing a plan with your specialist guide and following it.

Ideally, you will gain experience in marketing your product through first becoming established in your local market. That way, you can parlay your learnings into your export plan. And remember to factor in the extra costs involved in exporting your product, like additional transport, insurance premiums, handling charges, and changes to packaging and labelling for a foreign audience.

Step 3: Set up your business for exporting

It’s all very well to have a plan but you also literally need to have the goods to back it up. So, make sure that you are equipped to deliver what you say you can, when you say you will. Make sure you have sound processes in place to support you in satisfying demand and fulfilling orders. After all, you want your product to sell like hotcakes, so put time into creating your systems and processes that won’t let your customers, and you, down.

You should also have your basic promotional collateral ready to go, like business cards, a website and a company profile, when you start your export marketing drive. This is so you start off your campaign at full force and with the kind of professionalism your foreign buyers will expect from you.

While your offer may come natural and straightforward for you, on the flipside, creating a deliberate and engineered export strategy will see results come from your diligence and hard work rather than from luck.

—Steve Dowling is founder and director of ClientLink (www.clientlink.com.au), a boutique consultancy specialising in helping small to medium businesses achieve success in marketing and export planning.

The lift in the rankings came from a comparative improvement in macroeconomic stability and our high level of financial market sophistication, said Heather Ridout, CEO of Australian Industry Group.

“The efficiency of Australia’s goods and labour markets continued to provide the country with a significant competitive advantage,” she added.

However, Australia underperformed in key areas of business sophistication, including quality of business networks, processes and supply chains, and was lowly ranked for port infrastructure, which Ridout said “is of major concern for an island continent so dependent on global trade”.

The index took into account the competitive conditions of more than 130 countries, compiled through public data and an Executive Opinion Survey conducted via business associations worldwide.

Download the full report at the WEF website

The ACCC suspects that between 2002 and 2006, “Emirates entered into arrangements or understandings with other international air cargo carriers that had the purpose and effect of fixing the price of certain fuel surcharges, security surcharges and rates that were applied to air cargo carried by Emirates and other airlines.”

Routes to countries including Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates and India may have been affected.

The ACCC charge against Emirates follows high profile cases against Qantas and British Airways, as well as financial penalties totalling $41 million against Air France, KLM, Martinair and Cargolux.

Court proceedings against Emirates will start next month. Cases against Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific are still being heard.

One condition liberalisation is that the ACCC must accept port access arrangements provided by port operators.

Having conducted a review of port arrangements, consulting with farmers, port operators and grain exporters, the ACCC has released its draft decisions, rejecting the current arrangements proposed by port operators CBH, ABB and Graincorp.

According to a statement issued by the ACCC, it seeks port access arrangements that:

• Recognise the need for port operators to have flexibility to operate their supply chains efficiently in the transitionary environment;
• Provide Australian wheat exporters with fair, transparent and non-discriminatory access to port terminal facilities; and
• Provide transparent and clear processes for managing demand for port terminal services.

The ACCC is now open for submissions from interested parties on its draft decisions and proposals for improvements, until September 3, 2009.