Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Trade and Investment. Will the minister update the House on the government's efforts to deepen trade and investment ties, especially commercial linkages, with Indonesia?

Andrew Robb (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade and Investment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question—a member who very effectively represents his electorate, and a vibrant rural sector is very much a part of that electorate. I must say that I felt a little bit guilty taking the question before the mandatory three questions to Christopher Pyne. I had the privilege, last week, of leading Australia's biggest ever commercial delegation to Indonesia as part of the inaugural Indonesia Australia Business Week, with some 360 delegates. Indonesia is a market of 250 million people, with a rising middle class and more than 50 per cent of their population under 30. It is a market and a neighbour we simply cannot afford to ignore, as evidenced by Indonesia's remarkable, yet somewhat unnoticed, development over the last 15 years.

In 1999 Indonesia's GDP was $75 billion and there were four million people in the middle class—15 years ago. Today, Indonesia's GDP is $1.2 trillion up from $75 billion, with 50—not four—million people making up their middle class. The growth in trade across the ASEAN, of which Indonesia constitutes one-third, is expected to increase by $3 trillion over the next 10 years. Indonesia itself is forecast to become the fourth biggest economy in the world within 15 to 20 years, yet our trade and investment relationship is grossly undercooked. In some regard, we have looked past one another over much of the last 15 to 20 years. We see only 245 Australian companies with a presence in Indonesia, yet by comparison we have 360 Australian companies in Dubai—a country you could throw a stone across, yet here we have Indonesia with 17,000 islands across the Indonesia archipelago. We need a critical mass of companies, at least 1,000, taking up opportunities that are emerging.

For both commercial and compelling geopolitical reasons, we need to deepen our ties with this close neighbour. There are endless opportunities to leverage one another's strengths for mutual benefit. As well, the country is starting to liberalise in a way we have not seen for decades. We have got live cattle, where we are good at breeding; Indonesia is about the best in the world at fattening. Australia's wheat is our biggest export to India. They produce noodles, pasta and biscuits for local and export consumption. Business Week turned out to be very timely. We have to develop our relationship in a most powerful way and build the trust to turn up our relationship so that we can both capitalise.