Any Australian under the age of 28 has never experienced a recession. In fact, Australia is the world-record holder for uninterrupted growth. Global trade and foreign investment have been essential to building this resilience and will underpin Australia’s future prosperity. As the country’s largest source of foreign direct investment, the United States is key to this dynamic. American-Australian engagement – between our people, our economies, and our defence forces – has allowed the relationship to flourish for over a hundred years. Americans have been partnering with Australian businesses to build infrastructure, create jobs and grow the economy at an unsurpassed pace. US companies invest $1 billion a year in Australia for research and development alone. Today, more than 420,000 business executives in Australia will go to work for American-based companies, earning average salaries of $115,000. And besides the jobs and revenue American companies create, they also know the importance of giving back to the communities in which they operate. The corporate social responsibility and philanthropy programs at many AmCham companies are innovative and effective. Yet, there is still room to grow. Australia’s GDP increased by 2.4% in 2017 and is anticipated to reach 3.25% in the coming financial year. This exceeds the OECD average, despite the post-resource-boom transition of the economy to non-mining and infrastructure investment.

Last month, I led a delegation of AmCham members to Washington, DC, to meet with leaders and discuss where the US relationship with the Indo-Pacific is headed. We were joined by other Asia-Pacific AmChams, together representing the interests of over 15,000 businesses. We advocated for policies that will leverage the Asia-Pacific’s growth for greater opportunities for businesses and forge even deeper partnerships in the region. However, as the United States pulls back from multi-lateral trade agreements like TPP, we are seeing the economies of the Asia-Pacific moving forward by signing the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. We encouraged both the Trump Administration and Congress to work with US allies in the region to continue to strengthen the economic bonds that have underpinned a free and open Indo-Pacific for so long.
 

This month, we pivot from celebrating the past 100 years to planning the future of the US-Australia business relationship with our AmCham Gala Dinner featuring The Hon Joe Hockey, Australian Ambassador to the USA. It will be the biggest night of the year for US-Australia businesses to support bilateral economic cooperation. Our 2018 event is now SOLD OUT. Please join us at other upcoming events, listed here.



And with APEC Leaders’ Week coming up in November, we are seeing increasing numbers of high-level officials passing through Australia on their way to Papua New Guinea for senior officials’ meetings. I took a delegation of American businesses to visit Port Moresby and Lae and together with the US Ambassador to PNG, we met with local businesses and government officials to understand the opportunities and challenges to increasing economic involvement with PNG. We were warmly welcomed and several new projects are already under active consideration.

In the press: Post-Courier newspaper clippings | The National newspaper clippings

We have more trade missions coming up, so please click through on any of the icons below that piques your interest. Not only do these missions give you unparalleled access to the people you need to know for your business, they also provide an opportunity to forge strong relationships with the other delegates on the trip, which can lead to additional projects.
 

Thank you for your ongoing support,

April Palmerlee, Chief Executive Officer
American Chamber of Commerce in Australia
P 02 8031 9000 | E [email protected]