Go Down Under to make an export impact

As the world’s 14th largest economy with a per capita GDP level with the four richest European countries, Australia has a lot to offer.

Australia’s economic growth averaged 3.4 per cent for the past 10 years and is predicted to grow at around 4 per cent for the next two, according to UK Trade & Investment (UKTI).

And when you add to this the existence of a long-standing political and economic relationship between the UK and Australia, as well as common legal systems, language and social structure, you can see why it is seen as an attractive market for British business.

New Zealand too, with its long history of association with the UK, provides opportunities, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, to which its small market size is well suited.

Mark Robson, UKTI’s international trade director for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: “Geographically situated to benefit from the booming economies of Asia, Australia and New Zealand are modern, open, developed countries that offer dynamic yet dependable markets for UK businesses to sell their products and services.

“They have developed close economic bonds with the wider region, including a network of free trade agreements – both with the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and New Zealand with China.”

In the third quarter of 2012, exports by companies in Yorkshire and the Humber to Asia and Oceania hit £493m, slightly down on the £507m recorded in quarter two, but up on quarter one’s £416m. To put this in context, total exports from Yorkshire and the Humber reached nearly £4bn in the third quarter, up from £3.7bn in the previous three months.

The opportunities are many and varied in Australia and New Zealand, but UKTI has identified financial services, science and innovation, ICT, energy and the environment, and education and training as the sectors offering the most potential.

Simon Young, director of Leeds-based Heatshot, recently set up its new Australasian headquarters in Melbourne. The business sells heated fluid windscreen wash systems.

It says its products, which are manufactured in the United States, clean windscreens in all weather conditions, getting rid of bugs and debris, as well as clearing frozen nozzles.

Set up in 2010, Heatshot already exports to Europe and North America. But what attracted Heatshot to Australia? “Firstly, the mining industry,” said Mr Young. “Mining vehicles come out from underground full of dirt on the windscreen.

“The mining industry in Australia is one of their biggest assets and one of the biggest, affluent markets in the world at the moment so there’s money available to be spent on things, safety is a priority and we see there is a need in that market for our product.”

In addition, the climate lends itself to the product thanks to its extreme weather, said Mr Young, who added: “And unlike other large countries where you have sophisticated rail networks on a lot of internal areas of the country, Australia doesn’t rely on its train network, it uses road haulage, therefore the road haulage industry is key to industry and obviously road haulage has windscreens.”

More generally, he cited the common language and similar business mentality as key benefits of tapping into the Australasian market.

Australasia also includes the island of Papua New Guinea (PNG) where UKTI has recently established a small presence due to the opportunities in the natural resources industries. Mr Robson said: “PNG is the largest of the Pacific Island economies with a growing GDP that has accelerated at a rate of 8 per cent over the past decade.”

He said this has been boosted by opportunities in extractive industries and particularly the multi-billion dollar PNG LNG Project – a major natural gas export project taking place on the island.

Mr Robson said: “PNG is also the home to the world’s first deep sea mining project to mine deposits with high grade copper, gold, zinc and silver. With a growing middle income population the government is keen to improve stability and business confidence. Public private partnership is being considered as a way to improve key infrastructure in the country.”

He added: “It is another option to consider in the Oceania region, alongside the likes of Fiji, Tonga and the Solomon Islands.

“These are names that generally crop up at the Rugby World Cup, but they are real markets offering real potential.”

In partnership with Heathrow, the Yorkshire Post is running a series highlighting global trade opportunities for Yorkshire companies. In the coming weeks, the Yorkshire Post will look at the Asian and European markets, having already examined Africa and the Middle East and the Americas in past editions.

Airport that’s full all day, every day

Colin Matthews, chief executive of Heathrow:

“This week Heathrow has once again come under the spotlight.

Snow and low visibility caused disruption at airports across Europe with runways closed for snow clearance and flights spaced out more due to limited visibility.

But whilst other airports can simply move the flights affected to gaps later in the schedule, Heathrow cannot. It is full all day, every day.

This lack of capacity means Heathrow will always suffer disruption in adverse weather. Unfortunately, this affected journeys between Heathrow and Leeds Bradford just as it did to destinations further afield, such as those in Australia and Oceania.”