parts form report ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////// The Tanzanian Deputy Mining Minister told me Tanzania is preparing legislation to enhance the investment environment. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Adam Malima, the Deputy Mining Minister of Tanzania, also told me today that Australian companies are good non-intrusive friends ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
The Australia-Africa Partnership Address to the Mining Indaba Conference Cape Town, South Africa, 2 February 2010
Ministers, Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you, High Commissioner Ann Harrap, for that kind introduction.
I have a long-standing interest in Africa, this is my first visit to the continent as Trade Minister and I have been very impressed about what I have seen so far.
On a personal note, I have had a long-term interest in the anti-apartheid campaign and I am pleased to say Australia played a significant role in the struggle. As president of the union movement, and then as a member of the Labor Government in the 1980s and the 1990s, we significantly strengthened sanctions against the then South African Government all of which contributed to the international pressure and successful campaign to end apartheid.
It is a great privilege to be giving this address today on the 20th anniversary of the announcement of the release of Nelson Mandela.
This morning I visited the Green Point stadium that will be a venue for the FIFA 2010 World Cup and it is a truly magnificent facility.
The World Cup will be the biggest sporting event in this years international calendar.
I have seen first-hand the work and preparation for the tournament and I have no hesitation in saying that I am absolutely confident that the World Cup will be a tremendous success for South Africa and the greater African continent.
Thousands of Australian Socceroo fans will be here and I think this will be a great boost for Australia - Africa relations.
During the World Cup, the Australian Governments trade and investment promotion body, Austrade, will be actively involved with an initiative called Business Club Australia and I encourage your participation in this event.
When I arrived in Capetown on Sunday, we drove to the township Nyanga to watch a very competitive game of Australia Rules Football between the Australian indigenous youth team the Flying Boomerangs and the South African Coastal Lions.
It was a great community sporting and social event. At the end of the game I had the pleasure in congratulating 19-year Byanda Sobetwa on being awarded a sporting traineeship with the new Western Sydney AFL club. He is the first South African to be listed with an AFL club.
It was a great example of sport breaking down barriers between people, highlighting our common interests and links with each other.
There are already strong mining and resource links between Australia and Africa and what I want to build on that foundation to broaden our trade and investment partnership.
Underscoring this is the knowledge that it is not enough for developing countries just to liberalise trade barriers at the border. They must also be supported by trade and economic reform behind the border - along with capacity building measures. There is no point opening a new market if the ability does not exist to take advantage of the opportunity. Often the starting point of capacity building is skill development - training and the transfer of skills to local communities.
The Australian Government knows the importance of capacity building and it is a key part of our trade agenda.
Capacity building was a key element of the ASEAN-Australian-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement that is our largest FTA and came into force at the start of this year. The agreement spans a region with more than 600 million people and a combined GDP of almost $US 3 trillion.
Capacity building is what we are doing with Pacific nations. For example, the Australian Government is giving support to a multi-billion dollar LNG project in Papua New Guinea that will require 12,000 skilled workers.
Australia knows the importance of working with indigenous populations and working in remote areas. In Australia there is respect for the land and an appreciation for the importance of land rehabilitation.
This is the Australian brand and this is what we are bringing to Africa.
I like to think of this holistic approach to capacity building as the Australian way.
But it is an approach that is not just coming from the Australian Government it is the Government working in tandem with Australian companies.
And what better place to build momentum and focus on capacity building than here at Mining Indaba in Cape Town. As the regions premier conference on natural resources it brings together senior leaders from business and government from Africa and all over the world. Australias Strengthened Engagement with Africa
My visit to Africa needs to be seen as part of an overall strengthening of diplomatic, political and economic contacts between Australia and Africa.
The Australian Foreign Minister was here last week, and the Minister for Resources, Energy, and for Tourism is planning to visit later this month. Last year was a big year for visits in both directions, including the historic visit to ten African countries by Australias Governor General. Five African Foreign Ministers visited Australia last year which is more in one year than in the previous ten. Mining ministers from Eritrea, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa visited Australia last year to attend the 2009 Africa DownUnder Conference, Australias premier event on mining in Africa.
What these high-level visits underscore is that the Australian Government is deeply committed to substantially enhanced engagement with the countries and regional institutions of Africa.
Australias enhanced engagement with Africa involves working on individual bilateral relationships, strengthening cooperation with African regional institutions and working more closely with African countries in multilateral fora, including in the WTO, the Cairns Group, the United Nations and the G20.
While Australia and the countries of Africa have long been associated with different regional groupings, we have a shared interest in working together more closely in genuine partnership - to tackle the most pressing challenges of the 21st century. Im speaking here of challenges such as climate change, energy and food security, health pandemics, poverty reduction and the global economic crisis.
Australias approach to enhanced engagement with Africa has three core priorities. These are:
* supporting Africa's efforts to promote economic growth and prosperity through investment and trade * understanding that this cannot happen without strengthened and meaningful commitment to capacity building; and * addressing peace and security challenges.
Economic links
I am pleased to say economic links are going from strength to strength.
Australia's trade with Africa has grown steadily over the last decade, at an annual average of over 9 per cent. Australia's total merchandise trade with Africa was valued at $5.5 billion in 2008-09.
But trade is no longer primarily focused on the movement of goods. Increasingly trade is about market access for services and flows of overseas investment.
Take investment, for example. Actual and prospective investment by Australian resource companies in Africa has been estimated at around US$20 billion, spread across 38 African countries.
There are now hundreds of Australian companies active in the African resources sector. In fact, around 40 per cent of Australian mining companies' overseas projects are in Africa. Many of these great companies are represented here at Mining Indaba.
In the resources sector, Australia has a particularly strong presence in mining, oil and gas exploration. Australian companies are active in delivering a wide range of world-class mining services - including engineering, consulting and analysis. They enjoy a well-earned reputation for excellent safety records and high environmental standards. They have experience working in diverse multicultural environments, and they apply that expertise all around the world.
Australia is an example of how resource development used wisely can deliver wealth for the entire nation.
Australian companies are committed to Africa for the long-term. Australian companies take seriously their corporate social responsibility when it comes to doing business in Africa.
Paladin Energy, for example, makes important contributions to the Namibian Institute of Mining and Technology (NIMT), which operates one of the largest vocational training centres in the country.
I could cite many other examples - including Rio Tintos HIV/AIDS Community Program here in South Africas Limpopo Province. Or BHP-Billitons anti-malaria campaign at its aluminium smelter in Mozambique, which substantially reduced the malaria infection rate.
In this context, corporate social responsibility is not just about new wells, roads and buildings it is broader than that. Its a philosophy about the way you work equality, a fair go for workers as well as listening and being responsive.
As the South African Minister for Mineral Resources, Susan Shabangu, told me yesterday Australian companies respond better to communities they dont bulldoze they consult.
Adam Malima, the Deputy Mining Minister of Tanzania, also told me today that Australian companies are good non-intrusive friends
These are great endorsements from African Governments for the approach of Australian companies.
One of my key messages today is that we are here to listen. We are here to respond to your concerns. We want to help African nations achieve their goals.
On the other side, I believe here in Africa there needs to be a high priority placed on improvements to investment regimes to provide greater certainty for the business sector. I discussed this yesterday with Minister Susan Shabangu and I very much welcome her announcement this morning that South Africa will be bringing forward legislation to provide greater certainty on this front. The Tanzanian Deputy Mining Minister told me Tanzania is preparing legislation to enhance the investment environment. Development Assistance Capacity Building
In the spirit of greater engagement, I would like to make an important announcement today about Australias commitment to Africa.
Last year the Australian Government announced the establishment of an Australia-Africa Partnerships Facility to provide capacity building for African governments and institutions.
The facility will work across Africa in key areas such as agriculture, natural resource management and public policy development challenges and examine ways to foster public-private partnerships.
Today I can announce, under this program, Australia will provide $500,000 over three years to support a public-private partnership between AMIRA International (Australian Mineral Industry Research Association), which is an association of the worlds largest mining companies, to four West African Universities. These universities are in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Guinea.
The program will assist in developing the capacity of the four universities to conduct geological research, to provide high calibre geoscience courses, to fund student scholarships and to deliver services to the resources sector.
This is another concrete example of the Australian Governments commitment to building the partnership with Africa through a targeted development assistance program. Other examples are:
* The Australian Government is growing our targeted development assistance program to $163 million in 2010 an increase of 40% from last year * An expanded scholarships program which this year will deliver 200 scholarships. With the goal of expanding this to 1000 scholarships a year by 2012-13. * Engagement of a team to scope further opportunities for the governments development assistance program to engage in the mining sector in Africa.
Aid for Trade
Australia recognises that trade is a critical element in economic growth and development, and in reducing poverty.
That underscores the importance of bringing the WTO Doha Development Round to a successful conclusion.
It also underscores the importance of the concept of Aid for Trade, funding for which now accounts for 10 per cent of Australias total aid program.
Aid for trade is about providing development assistance for the trade-related needs of developing countries to enable their better engagement in the multilateral trading system and regional trade initiatives. It is based on the pillars of assisting countries to improve market access and to build competitive economies.
Over the past two years, Australia has undertaken effective and relevant aid-for-trade activities in Africa, including in South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi, Lesotho, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, Kenya and Uganda. Moving forward
Looking ahead, let me just say that I know the Global Economic Crisis has had an impact on all sectors of the global economy, not least mining resources, and that Sub-Saharan Africa has been hit hard.
But there are growing signs of optimism among economists. Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to pick up to 4.3 per cent in 2010, according to the IMF.
The challenge for all of us as business and government leaders is to make the most of the opportunities that will flow from that growth.
As I look around the room at the innovative companies represented here, Im struck by both the rising profile of Australian business in Africa and the potential for Australia to play an even bigger role in Africas economic future in the years ahead.
The Australian Government is driving hard and is committed to fostering a stronger trade and investment relationship between our two great continents. I firmly believe we can take this partnership to a new level with great mutual benefits for Australia and Africa.
Thank you
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