Australia has more to offer than afternoon soaps

AUSTRALIA plays a surprisingly large part in the Irish cultural psyche due to the popularity of its seemingly endless output of television programmes.

But despite intimate knowledge of the goings on in Summer Bay, Ramsey Street, and the Sullivan household, little is known of what lies the afternoon soaps, ing to Mr David Morris, first secretary at the Australian Embassy in Dublin.

In order to raise the country's profile as a location for investment, a gateway to the growing markets of Asia Pacific, and a potential trading partner, the embassy is cohosting a half day seminar on Thursday with the Irish Australian Business Association, and the Australian Trade Commission.

People know a lot about Australian culture, but are much less informed on the economy and the potential for business, according to Mr Morris.

"At worst we'll have about 100 or 150 business people who might not have thought about exploiting Australia before," he said.

He believes that there is a strong potential for trade, joint ventures and investment in the information technology business as the sector is strong in both Ireland and Australia.

Mr Morris argues that Australia is also a low cost base for such companies when compared to other Asian locations such as Singapore or Hong Kong.

According to Mr Peter Lorschy, senior trade commissioner at the Australian Trade Commission in London, Australia is the perfect gateway for the Asian Pacific markets for Irish and British companies as they share a common language, legal system and corporate values.

About 200 major international companies, including ICI, GEC Marconi, and Lucas Industries, have already established their Asian headquarters in Australia, and that number is expected to increase dramatically, Mr Lorschy said.

He also believes that strategic alliances and joint ventures offer huge potential for developing links between medium sized Irish and Australian corporates.

Australia has a trade deficit with Ireland which has been rising dramatically in recent years. Five years ago the deficit was about £89.5 million but by last year it had increased to £191 million.

Australia's main exports to Ireland last year were coal, alcoholic drinks and optical equipment while its main imports from the Republic were chemicals, pharmaceutical products, and computers.

But the official statistics probably underestimate Australia's trade with Ireland. Many goods imported into the Republic - such as wine, processed foods, and even Australian soaps - are exported via Britain and therefore may not appear in statistics as the subsequent journey to Ireland is within the EU.

Australia exports £1.3 billion worth of goods to Britain annually while exports to Ireland were worth about £20.4 million.

Australia's most visible export to Ireland is wine, which is marketed and promoted here by John McDonnell of the Australian Wine Bureau.

Australian wine has 12 per cent of the Irish wine market, which is estimated to be worth about £200 million.

France has 45 per cent of the market while Mr McDonnell's nearest rival is Italy with 15 per cent.

McDonnell believes his key task is two fold: to increase Australian wine's share of a growing market, and to boost people's knowledge of the product beyond the £4.99 bottle of plonk.

He believes that within a few years the Australians could have captured 14 per cent of the market, possibly by passing the Italians.

"I want people to go beyond thinking of an Australian white or an Australian red, and to talk about the regional varieties . . . there are huge differences in climate and soil types."

McDonnell, who works for the bureau on a part time basis also runs a restaurant in Ballyvaughan, Co Clare, hosts a number of promotional events each year, and sources the wine from Irish importers.

The bulk of Australian wine that tends to be bought in Ireland are the cheaper mass market brands, and Mr McDonnell is keen to encourage people to move to a £6 or £7 bottle of Australian wine as he says the difference in quality is much more than would be expected from such a small increase in price.

The seminar will also focus on the investment opportunities in Australia for Irish companies, and the practicalities of doing business there. It is sponsored by Independent Newspapers, an Irish company with substantial Australian interests and National Irish Bank, which is owned by National Australia Bank, and speakers include Tourism and Trade Minister, Mr Enda Kenny, and the Australian ambassador to Ireland, Mr Eddy Stevens.

The Dublin based software company Aldiscon is one of the small, but growing number of Irish firms that have an Australian office.

Aldiscon has a small operation in Sydney to offer customer and sales support to two GSM operators, one in Australia and one in New Zealand, which use its products.

Aldiscon's managing director, Mr Larry Quinn, says the distance between the two countries is now almost irrelevant as vast amounts of data can be transferred in seconds.

He argues that Aldiscon is not unique in exploiting a niche area in the software/telecommunications business and that there are opportunities for other Irish companies in Australia.