Steven Ciobo has been welcomed as the new Trade and Investment Minister by the FSC following Andrew Robb’s announcement that he will retire at the next election.
FSC director of policy Andrew Bragg said: “This portfolio will shape the future of Australia’s services industries, which represents 70 per cent of our economy but accounts for only 17 per cent of our exports.
“The growth in demand for services from the swelling middle classes in the Asian region presents a tremendous opportunity. Australia needs the new minister to ensure services can be exported through properly implemented trade agreements.
“Selling Australian services requires much more than removing tariffs at the other end. Services trade will depend on licensing, digital barriers and other legal frameworks such as mutual recognition.
“Mr Ciobo will continue the work of the Hon Andrew Robb AO MP who put services trade on the map and sealed a trifecta of North Asian trade agreements with Japan, South Korea and China in 2014,” he said.
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