LEICHHARDT businesses looking to export are the big winners from a new Coalition Government initiative to provide quick and easy access to trade information.
Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch MP said the new Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Portal will help local businesses take full advantage of Australia’s free trade agreements with the three north Asian powerhouse economies of China, Japan and South Korea.
“The opportunities for Far North Queensland’s small- and medium-sized businesses have never been better,” Mr Entsch said today.
“Many businesses are looking to export but aren’t quite sure how to go about it and whether they are price-competitive.
“The new FTA Portal will help to answer those questions. It gives people free and accurate information on tariffs under the FTAs so small and medium businesses can easily work out how price competitive they will be.”
The Portal also has Australian and international trade data and an innovative step-by-step system to help businesses assess whether their product is likely to meet the requirements of the agreements.
“So whether you’re a dairy farmer on the Tableland, a service provider in Cairns or a tropical fruit grower at Lakeland, the FTA Portal displays the right information for the right product through a quick and easy search,” said Mr Entsch.
“The new FTA Portal is just one of the ways the Coalition is helping SMEs take full advantage of the significant competitive benefits offered by the FTAs in order to create jobs and economic growth for our region.”
The new FTA Portal also aims to harness the innovation of the private sector, by making the information freely available to app developers so clever, tailored apps can be developed that provide even more helpful information to the SME sector.
The FTA Portal is: https://ftaportal.dfat.gov.au/