Australia’s international investment position Introduction One of the Government’s principal policy objectives is to generate and capture benefits for the Australian community through international trade and investment liberalisation. This is pursued through a multifaceted policy involving complementary multilateral, regional and bilateral engagement. The Treasury’s Foreign Investment and Trade Policy Division (the Division) is responsible for ensuring effective representation of Australia’s foreign investment policy (the policy) and negotiating positions on international investment issues. This work includes: multilateral forums, such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Trade Organization (WTO); regional forums, such as AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation (APEC); and bilateral mechanisms, such as free trade agreements (FTAs) and investment protection and promotion agreements (IPPAs). The Division also supports the Executive Member of the Board in his role as the Australian National Contact Point (the ANCP) for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (the OECD Guidelines) and related corporate social responsibility issues. The role of the ANCP is to ensure the effective promotion and implementation of the OECD Guidelines in Australia. Over the past two decades, growth in worldwide flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) has been particularly strong. This growth in FDI largely reflects the worldwide relaxation of trade and investment controls, together with advancements in information technologies, communications and transport, and the emergence of global production chains. The global financial crisis has impacted adversely on global capital flows. According to OECD estimates, member countries’ outflows of FDI fell by 19 per cent while inflows fell by 35 per cent in 2008. These OECD estimates show that FDI inflows into Australia rose by 7 per cent while outflows from Australia rose by 113 per cent in 2008. Australia has traditionally relied on inward FDI to meet the shortfall between domestic saving and the level of domestic investment. Foreign investment supplements local savings, thereby supporting higher rates of economic growth and employment levels which in turn improves the wellbeing of the Australian people. Inward FDI also continues to play a significant role in making Australian industry internationally competitive, and thereby contributing to export growth, facilitating access to new technologies, financing new and often risky innovations, and providing opportunities for global integration and networking.
Australia’s international investment position Introduction One of the Government’s principal policy objectives is to generate and capture benefits for the Australian community through international trade and investment liberalisation. This is pursued through a multifaceted policy involving complementary multilateral, regional and bilateral engagement. The Treasury’s Foreign Investment and Trade Policy Division (the Division) is responsible for ensuring effective representation of Australia’s foreign investment policy (the policy) and negotiating positions on international investment issues. This work includes: multilateral forums, such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Trade Organization (WTO); regional forums, such as AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation (APEC); and bilateral mechanisms, such as free trade agreements (FTAs) and investment protection and promotion agreements (IPPAs). The Division also supports the Executive Member of the Board in his role as the Australian National Contact Point (the ANCP) for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (the OECD Guidelines) and related corporate social responsibility issues. The role of the ANCP is to ensure the effective promotion and implementation of the OECD Guidelines in Australia. Over the past two decades, growth in worldwide flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) has been particularly strong. This growth in FDI largely reflects the worldwide relaxation of trade and investment controls, together with advancements in information technologies, communications and transport, and the emergence of global production chains. The global financial crisis has impacted adversely on global capital flows. According to OECD estimates, member countries’ outflows of FDI fell by 19 per cent while inflows fell by 35 per cent in 2008. These OECD estimates show that FDI inflows into Australia rose by 7 per cent while outflows from Australia rose by 113 per cent in 2008. Australia has traditionally relied on inward FDI to meet the shortfall between domestic saving and the level of domestic investment. Foreign investment supplements local savings, thereby supporting higher rates of economic growth and employment levels which in turn improves the wellbeing of the Australian people. Inward FDI also continues to play a significant role in making Australian industry internationally competitive, and thereby contributing to export growth, facilitating access to new technologies, financing new and often risky innovations, and providing opportunities for global integration and networking.
FIRB-Annual-Report-2008-09_Chapter_4.docx