Growing $16 billion in trade between Australia and the Middle East

DIPLOMATIC representatives from countries as diverse as the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar, Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon, Kuwait, Iraq and Tunisia will attend a roundtable public hearing tomorrow for a federal parliamentary inquiry into trade with the Middle East.

Members of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade will be asking the representatives of the Gulf states about a resumption of the free-trade negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council, which stalled in 2009.

The Trade Sub-Committee will also be looking for insights into how Australia can best grow its $16 billion in trade with a large countries such as Egypt, as well as the fast developing smaller nations like Morocco, Jordan, Tunisia and Lebanon.

Australia’s trade, investment and community engagement with the Middle East has been enhanced by the growing aviation links with 140 flights a week between Australia and the Gulf and the presence of more than 350 Australian companies in the region. Australian businesses are expected to take advantage of opportunities in the region with Dubai hosting World Expo in 2020 and Doha hosting the World Cup in 2022.

According to the Department of Agriculture’s submission, as the population grows in the Middle East, the demand for Australian-grown food such as wheat, sheep meat and other agricultural exports will also rise due to the physical limitations of the region’s arid climate, lack of suitable farming land and scarcity of water.

In 2012-13, Middle East countries imported more than $3.4 billion of processed and unprocessed food from Australia, and according to a Department of Industry’s submission, the demand for premium cuts of lamb and beef and other high-value foods will grow along with the popularity of premium restaurants, supermarkets and convenience stores in the region.      

Public hearing
Date/Time:  Wednesday 11 February 2015, 11:00 am
Location:      Committee Room 1R1, Parliament House, Canberra: 
Witnesses:    Diplomatic representatives of Middle Eastern nations

Live audio broadcast will be available at www.aph.gov.au/live