Australian companies exporting to ASEAN countries – success stories
50 Years of ASEAN-Australia Relations – The History
Southeast Asia visited farms and met farmers and suppliers. Indorama, one of Indonesia’s top spinning mills, credits Australian sustainable farming practices, which align with the company’s aim of incorporating sustainability across its business. Farms with no fences: organic beef exports to Southeast Asia OBE Organics, based in the Kati Thanda - Lake Eyre basin in South Australia exports 100 per cent organic beef to the world, with a growing market in Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. Started by family farmers in the 1990s, the company guards its reputation for animal welfare and sustainable farming and maintains organic certification in the most stringent markets for organic produce. OBE Organics’ future strategy is based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. With a burgeoning middle class in Southeast Asia, consumers will be making informed choices about whether the food they buy is clean and safe; and all of OBE’s beef is Halal- certified, a vital factor in marketing to that region.
Green cement technology export to the Philippines Regain Services, based in Newcastle, New South Wales, spotted an opportunity in the 1990s: to turn a toxic element of the aluminium smelting process into a product for use by cement makers. With the cement industry generating five per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, the recycling innovation has found a ready market internationally. Regain’s product, HiCAL, is exported to cement- makers in 19 countries, notably the Philippines. Sustainable Australian cotton making inroads in the Indonesian market The Australian Cotton Shippers Association (ACSA) has 14 cotton merchants buying from Australian growers and selling into export markets. Indonesia is now ACSA’s second largest cotton export market after Vietnam, partly thanks to grants from the Australian Government’s Agricultural Trade and Market Access Cooperation Program. Nurturing a burgeoning Indonesia market for cotton is vital and helped by high quality product. In 2023, ACSA and Cotton Australia held a “Cotton Camp” where six spinning companies from
In 2024 we celebrate 50 years of the dialogue relations between Australia and our ASEAN partners.
When Australia became ASEAN’s first Dialogue Partner in 1974, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam described ASEAN as “unquestionably the most important, [and] the most relevant” group in our region. In its early interactions, ASEAN and Australia’s cooperation focused on the strengthening of trade and economic links. At the first formal meeting between ASEAN and Australia in Bangkok, in 1974, Australia committed $5 million to support projects under the newly formed ASEAN-Australia Economic Cooperation Program. The program identified five areas of cooperation for initial development: protein production, food handling, trade cooperation, consumer protection and education assistance. ASEAN-Australia ties continued to strengthen following the Bangkok meeting as then Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser opened the first ASEAN Trade Fair in Sydney in 1978, featuring products from 150 firms from the five ASEAN Member States at the time. As ASEAN started to grow its membership, Australia participated as a founding member of major ASEAN-led architecture, including the ASEAN Regional Forum in 1994 and the East Asia Summit in 2005. Since then, ASEAN and Australia have been working together to address important regional challenges, including improving the operating environment for our businesses, by removing barriers to trade through the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area. ASEAN and Australia have continued to work together to implement the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. These free trade areas expand commercial ties and offer roadmaps for further cooperation to adopt measures or negotiate rules to boost trade and investment ties. Engagement with the ASEAN-led economic architecture, such as through the East Asia Summit economic track, brings ministers together to discuss how to deepen rules-based trade and investment. Australia continues to work with ASEAN on a wide range of practical cooperation initiatives, including economic growth and integration, climate change, transnational crime and enhanced maritime security projects. Through the $204 million Australia for ASEAN Futures Initiative (Aus4ASEAN), Australia is a proud partner on ASEAN-led projects through ASEAN systems to address complex regional challenges and support implementation of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.
Harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) to improve patient care in Malaysia Annalise.ai is a medtech company using AI to analyse chest X-rays accurately and help triage cases. Its first- level checking helps lessen fatigue among radiologists. While not replacing human eyes and analysis, it functions as an objective tool and a digital second set of eyes. The technology assists by picking up complex, subtle and small elements in scans. With regulatory clearance in 40 countries, Annalise.au has partnered with the Malaysian hospital sector to deploy its technology in the radiology departments of several hospitals.
Bringing Australian cyber security expertise to Singapore Privasec is an Australian cyber security consultancy whose business relies on absolute trust: they hack clients’ systems with permission, to test and uncover vulnerabilities. Australia’s reputation for strong governance has meant that Privasec’s association with Australian Government agency Austrade could be used to gain client trust. Privasec now has 50 employees across the Southeast Asian region and a local presence in Singapore and is establishing a reputation as a thought leader in cyber security.
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business envoy
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
business envoy
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