Australia has launched an initiative around the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games to create opportunities for trade between South African and Australian businesses.
IT and telecommunications is one of the business sectors being targeted by the programme.
Business Club Australia: Melbourne 2006 is a joint initiative between the Australian and Victorian governments to help international and Australian companies benefit from the excitement generated by the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
A free membership-based programme, it initiates links between Australian and international companies through events, one-on-one meetings, Web sites and hospitality at key venues.
Speaking at the launch of the local arm of the initiative in Sandton this week, Mary Gillett, Victoria parliamentary secretary to the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games, said that in SA, the initiative would focus on emerging markets in mining, IT and telecoms, agribusiness, education and after-market automotive.
Trade commissioner Jay Meek says ICT is an emerging area of trade between Australia and SA, and there are many opportunities that will be explored.
Business Club Australia has a dedicated team in Melbourne that focuses on ICT and there are plans, in conjunction with the Victoria government, to conduct detailed one-on-one business matching.
Australian high commissioner Phillip Green says the initiative is targeting seven countries in the Commonwealth: SA, the UK, Singapore, Canada, Malaysia, India and New Zealand, which, he adds, illustrates how important South African trade is to Australia.
He says the countries have a R13 billion annual trading relationship. Australia is at all times in SA`s top 10 export destinations and is the seventh largest investor in SA.
Australia, he says, is a good place to do business. With one of the strongest growth rates in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, low inflation and interest rates, for three years it has ranked as the third most resilient economy in the world.
The Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games are to be held from 15 to 26 March next year.
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