During the last five years of global financial woes and sovereign debt risks, Asia’s hunger for Australia’s resources has kept our economy fired up. Resource exports to China alone were valued at approximately $69 billion in 2011–12, accounting for 22 per cent of Australia’s total exports.
Although multibillion dollar resource deals and flotillas of China-bound freighters might take the headlines, Australia’s non-resource exports should not be overlooked. Indeed, with the region’s middle-classes expected to swell to 3.2 billion by 2030, Asian consumers and companies could open up rivers of gold for Australian goods and services exporters.The Boston Consulting Group estimates that as much as $125 billion could be added to the Australian economy over the next decade if we improve our share of Asia’s non-resource imports by just 0.3 per cent. Based on the under-representation of goods and services exports in Australian Bureau of Statistics data, Asialink predicts that the figure could even be as high as $275 billion.
There is a catch though. According to academics, business leaders and politicians alike, Australia needs to develop more Asia expertise to seize these massive Asian Century opportunities. More Australians need to speak Asian languages, understand Asian cultures, and gain experience working in Asia if we are going to be able to sell diverse goods and services to the region.
Policies aimed at upskilling Australians with Asia-relevant capabilities seem commonsensical. Given that there are massive markets for goods and services opening up in Asia, equipping Australians with the Asia expertise needed to understand Asian markets and business cultures looks like a smart investment.
However, with Australian businesses prospering in Asia and Australia’s multicultural society already rich in readymade Asia-relevant capabilities, programs to upskill Australians to work in Asia’s new tiger economies are actually just white elephants.
Flying in the face of concerns that Australia is suffering from a severe shortfall of Asia-relevant capabilities, Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) and Asialink research reveals that the promise of success in Asia is already a reality for many Australian businesses. Of the businesses in the Ai Group/Asialink survey that are involved in Asia in some way, 76 percent said their dealings in the region were ‘living up to expectations,’ and a further 14 percent said their operations were performing ‘better than expected.’
When it comes to the barriers to success, a lack of Asia expertise barely rates a mention. Australian businesses said they are primarily constrained by economic and government policy-related hurdles. At most, a mere 7 percent of Australian businesses said a lack of a specific Asia-relevant capability is adversely affecting their level of expenditure or expansion in Asia.
These are hardly the results we would expect if Australian businesses were in fact suffering serious Asia-relevant capabilities shortfalls. What is more, even if the bulk of Australian businesses lacked adequate Asia expertise, it would still not follow that the Australian workforce requires upskilling.
Instead of large-scale programs to teach Asian languages, improve cultural awareness, and increase Asian business skills, Australia can import all the Asia expertise it needs through the migration program.
Australia’s migration program is dominated by the skilled stream, which accounted for approximately 126,000 places in 2011–12, or 68 percent of the overall migration program. By awarding points for visa eligibility on the basis of criteria such as qualifications and vocational skills, the skilled stream seeks to attract migrants with business acumen, technical expertise, and workplace experience.
This migration stream mirrors the general migration program in which seven of the top ten source countries are from Asia. In 2010–11, Asian nations accounted for six of the top eight General Skilled Migration visa grants, four of the top eight Employer Sponsored visa grants, and six of the top eight Business Skills visa grants. Overall, six of the top eight source countries for all skilled visa grants were from Asia, with these top six Asian nations alone making up more than 50 percent of the total skilled visa grants.
The combination of a skilled migration stream that relies heavily on Asian source countries and is geared towards attracting new Australians with professional skills makes Australia a beacon for migrants with sophisticated Asia-relevant capabilities. Added to this, the prominence of key Asian nations such as China and India in the skilled migration stream (the number one and three source countries, respectively) means our migration program is bringing in the Asia knowledge and experience needed in the Chinese and Indian-led Asian Century.
This influx of more than 50,000 new Asia-savvy Australians each year supplements Australia’s already large pool of Asia expertise. In 2011, approximately 2.2 million people spoke Asian languages at home—equivalent to 1 in 10 Australians.
Among Australia’s millions of Asian languages-speakers, the Australia in the Asian Century white paper priority languages — Mandarin, Hindi, Japanese and Indonesian — are widely spoken. Approximately 336,000 people spoke Mandarin at home in 2011, while 111,000 people spoke Hindi; 56,000 spoke Indonesian; and 44,000 spoke Japanese.
The 2.2 million Asian-languages speaking Australians coupled with the 1.7 million Asian-born Australians suggest that it is also misleading to say Australia suffers from a blind spot when it comes to Asian cultures. Given that being Asian-born and speaking an Asian language at home are relatively good proxies for having a familial connection of some kind with an Asian culture, there may be more than 2 million Australians with extensive Asian cultural literacy.
The high levels of interaction between cultures in Australian backyards and neighbourhoods further mean that this Asian cultural literacy is becoming mainstream. Census data shows spouses were of different ancestries in a large and growing portion of couples (already more than 30 per cent), while Australians are less likely to be living in segregated neighbourhoods than their British, Canadian, and in particular, US counterparts. Under these conditions, Asian cultural literacy is being spread by osmosis.
Given the shift in global economic weight to Asia, Australia would certainly be wise to position itself as the education provider, tourist destination, and food producer of choice for billions of cashed-up Asian consumers. We should not worry about missing out on these opportunities though. It is Australia’s good fortune that tapping into this Asian Century bonanza does not require costly education and training programs.
Indeed, there is a strong case for complacency about Australia’s economic prospects in an Asia-dominated global economy: Multicultural Australia is equipped with a large and expanding pool of Asia expertise, while Australian businesses have a proven record of success in the region. Australia’s supposed Asia-relevant capabilities shortfall is therefore just a phantom menace.
Benjamin Herscovitch is a Policy Analyst at the Centre for Independent Studies, and author of Australia’s Asia Literacy Non-Problem and Australia and the Asian Ascendancy: Why Upskilling is Not Necessary to Reap the Rewards.
Home > Commentary > Opinion > Despite white paper worries, Asia-savvy Australia is set for success
Despite white paper worries, Asia-savvy Australia is set for success
During the last five years of global financial woes and sovereign debt risks, Asia’s hunger for Australia’s resources has kept our economy fired up. Resource exports to China alone were valued at approximately $69 billion in 2011–12, accounting for 22 per cent of Australia’s total exports.
Although multibillion dollar resource deals and flotillas of China-bound freighters might take the headlines, Australia’s non-resource exports should not be overlooked. Indeed, with the region’s middle-classes expected to swell to 3.2 billion by 2030, Asian consumers and companies could open up rivers of gold for Australian goods and services exporters.The Boston Consulting Group estimates that as much as $125 billion could be added to the Australian economy over the next decade if we improve our share of Asia’s non-resource imports by just 0.3 per cent. Based on the under-representation of goods and services exports in Australian Bureau of Statistics data, Asialink predicts that the figure could even be as high as $275 billion.
There is a catch though. According to academics, business leaders and politicians alike, Australia needs to develop more Asia expertise to seize these massive Asian Century opportunities. More Australians need to speak Asian languages, understand Asian cultures, and gain experience working in Asia if we are going to be able to sell diverse goods and services to the region.
Policies aimed at upskilling Australians with Asia-relevant capabilities seem commonsensical. Given that there are massive markets for goods and services opening up in Asia, equipping Australians with the Asia expertise needed to understand Asian markets and business cultures looks like a smart investment.
However, with Australian businesses prospering in Asia and Australia’s multicultural society already rich in readymade Asia-relevant capabilities, programs to upskill Australians to work in Asia’s new tiger economies are actually just white elephants.
Flying in the face of concerns that Australia is suffering from a severe shortfall of Asia-relevant capabilities, Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) and Asialink research reveals that the promise of success in Asia is already a reality for many Australian businesses. Of the businesses in the Ai Group/Asialink survey that are involved in Asia in some way, 76 percent said their dealings in the region were ‘living up to expectations,’ and a further 14 percent said their operations were performing ‘better than expected.’
When it comes to the barriers to success, a lack of Asia expertise barely rates a mention. Australian businesses said they are primarily constrained by economic and government policy-related hurdles. At most, a mere 7 percent of Australian businesses said a lack of a specific Asia-relevant capability is adversely affecting their level of expenditure or expansion in Asia.
These are hardly the results we would expect if Australian businesses were in fact suffering serious Asia-relevant capabilities shortfalls. What is more, even if the bulk of Australian businesses lacked adequate Asia expertise, it would still not follow that the Australian workforce requires upskilling.
Instead of large-scale programs to teach Asian languages, improve cultural awareness, and increase Asian business skills, Australia can import all the Asia expertise it needs through the migration program.
Australia’s migration program is dominated by the skilled stream, which accounted for approximately 126,000 places in 2011–12, or 68 percent of the overall migration program. By awarding points for visa eligibility on the basis of criteria such as qualifications and vocational skills, the skilled stream seeks to attract migrants with business acumen, technical expertise, and workplace experience.
This migration stream mirrors the general migration program in which seven of the top ten source countries are from Asia. In 2010–11, Asian nations accounted for six of the top eight General Skilled Migration visa grants, four of the top eight Employer Sponsored visa grants, and six of the top eight Business Skills visa grants. Overall, six of the top eight source countries for all skilled visa grants were from Asia, with these top six Asian nations alone making up more than 50 percent of the total skilled visa grants.
The combination of a skilled migration stream that relies heavily on Asian source countries and is geared towards attracting new Australians with professional skills makes Australia a beacon for migrants with sophisticated Asia-relevant capabilities. Added to this, the prominence of key Asian nations such as China and India in the skilled migration stream (the number one and three source countries, respectively) means our migration program is bringing in the Asia knowledge and experience needed in the Chinese and Indian-led Asian Century.
This influx of more than 50,000 new Asia-savvy Australians each year supplements Australia’s already large pool of Asia expertise. In 2011, approximately 2.2 million people spoke Asian languages at home—equivalent to 1 in 10 Australians.
Among Australia’s millions of Asian languages-speakers, the Australia in the Asian Century white paper priority languages — Mandarin, Hindi, Japanese and Indonesian — are widely spoken. Approximately 336,000 people spoke Mandarin at home in 2011, while 111,000 people spoke Hindi; 56,000 spoke Indonesian; and 44,000 spoke Japanese.
The 2.2 million Asian-languages speaking Australians coupled with the 1.7 million Asian-born Australians suggest that it is also misleading to say Australia suffers from a blind spot when it comes to Asian cultures. Given that being Asian-born and speaking an Asian language at home are relatively good proxies for having a familial connection of some kind with an Asian culture, there may be more than 2 million Australians with extensive Asian cultural literacy.
The high levels of interaction between cultures in Australian backyards and neighbourhoods further mean that this Asian cultural literacy is becoming mainstream. Census data shows spouses were of different ancestries in a large and growing portion of couples (already more than 30 per cent), while Australians are less likely to be living in segregated neighbourhoods than their British, Canadian, and in particular, US counterparts. Under these conditions, Asian cultural literacy is being spread by osmosis.
Given the shift in global economic weight to Asia, Australia would certainly be wise to position itself as the education provider, tourist destination, and food producer of choice for billions of cashed-up Asian consumers. We should not worry about missing out on these opportunities though. It is Australia’s good fortune that tapping into this Asian Century bonanza does not require costly education and training programs.
Indeed, there is a strong case for complacency about Australia’s economic prospects in an Asia-dominated global economy: Multicultural Australia is equipped with a large and expanding pool of Asia expertise, while Australian businesses have a proven record of success in the region. Australia’s supposed Asia-relevant capabilities shortfall is therefore just a phantom menace.
Benjamin Herscovitch is a Policy Analyst at the Centre for Independent Studies, and author of Australia’s Asia Literacy Non-Problem and Australia and the Asian Ascendancy: Why Upskilling is Not Necessary to Reap the Rewards.
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