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Federal Member for Wide Bay and Minister for Trade Warren Truss has launched a new brochure showing how international trade and investment are benefiting the Sunshine Coast and Wide Bay. Speaking at the Outlook Conference in Canberra, Mr Truss said the Trade Matters brochure is one of a series on regional Australia giving examples of the export successes of small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as the well-known successes of bigger companies. “The Trade Matters brochure shows how exports from Wide Bay, as well as overseas investment in the region, have created jobs in local communities, opened new industries and enabled traditional industries to remain buoyant,” Mr Truss said. “The enterprises in this brochure are tapping into the global marketplace and ploughing many of the profits back into our communities – and Australia’s economy as a whole.” “Our regional exporters are creating jobs, lifting living standards in our local communities and continuing to expand through innovation, greater efficiency and further investment,” Mr Truss said. The range of successful exporters featured in this brochure, like Olds Engineering in Maryborough, is proof of the region’s ability to compete in diverse world markets. Mr Truss said these export successes are also testament to the opportunities opened up by Australia’s domestic economic reforms over the past two decades, in particular our trade liberalisation agenda. “Regional gains from the growth of Australia’s trade could be even greater if barriers in our overseas markets could be reduced.” “The Australian Government’s trade policy is committed to opening markets, lowering barriers and getting a fair deal for Australian business abroad. It is doing this through the WTO Doha round, through the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) initiative and through comprehensive free trade agreements with key trading partners.” “The Trade Matters brochure is an impressive record of achievement by our entrepreneurial and enterprising regional Australians,” Mr Truss said. This brochure and others are available on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s website at: www.dfat.gov.au/trade/regional/. For hard copies, email: tradewatch@dfat.gov.au
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