PREMIER of South Australia Peter Malinauskas says a commitment to a liberal trade agenda is crucial if we are to raise living standards for future generations.
The premier spoke at the Australia-ASEAN Business Forum at Adelaide Convention Centre, noting the complexity of the world economy and current geopolitics.
"There is a simple truth that absolutely unites every one of us, regardless of which nation we call home. That we have a common aspiration to ensure that we provide as much opportunity for the next generation of our citizenry as the one we have been able to enjoy,” Mr Malinauskas said.
“When we think about improving living standards, there is an undeniable truth. That trade has been a revolution for living standards globally,” he said.
“Billions of people have been lifted up, out of poverty because people have had the courage to trade across borders.”
Mr Malinauskas rejected ideas of protectionism and isolationism.
“At a time when we definitively know that trade liberalisation has contributed to our prosperity, it somewhat beggars belief that we are seeing… a race towards isolationism or a denial of the opportunity for access to more bigger markets,” the premier said.
“It is incumbent upon us all… that if we are sincere about the opportunity to improve the next generation’s living standards, that in ASEAN regions we step up to the plate and continue to trade, continue to pursue that prosperity in the knowledge that the opportunity is bigger than we could possibly know.”
ASEAN secretary-general Kao Kim Hourn, meanwhile, spoke about the importance of Southeast Asia and Australia as a resilient trading bloc for opportunities for collaboration in the so-called ‘blue economy’.
“There is tremendous potential for collaborative innovation and marine renewable energy, along with coastal resilience and adaptation, smart ocean technologies and sustainable aquaculture,” Dr Kao said.
“Let us translate this potential into practical outcomes.”
Chair of the ASEAN–Business Advisory Council (BAC), Tan Sri Nazir Razak, discussed the challenges of modern trade with the quote, “the old world is dying but the new one refuses to be born”.
Tan Sri noted the challenges of a fragmented ASEAN and that it had underperformed economically when compared with China.
He said a priority was economic expansion, with planned FTAs with the EU and Canada set to open new markets for ASEAN businesses.