Austrade claims fifth largest ICT industry in Asia

The Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) has boasted of a "burgeoning" ICT industry, claiming Australia to be one of the largest, fastest-growing ICT markets in Asia.

Last week, the government agency highlighted international business opportunities in Australia, the largest of which was said to be the $43b National Broadband Network (NBN).

The announcement came ahead of international ICT event CommunicAsia 2010, which takes place this week in Singapore and will be attended by a delegation of more than 40 Australian organisations including NICTA and the State Governments of NSW, SA and VIC.

Austrade hoped to promote international trade and investment at the event, following the introduction of the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) this year.

It claimed that Australia was the fifth largest ICT market in Asia, with more than 300,000 businesses that generated more than $120b in 2008, and an annual growth rate of 12.8 percent in the five years to 2008.

Austrade's Global Leader for ICT Janelle Casey highlighted the NBN and sustainable technology as opportunities for international investors, and Australian-developed mobile content, virtualisation and cloud computing as potential exports.

"The sheer scale of the NBN is generating widespread interest from businesses around the world," she said in a statement.

"We believe it creates an unprecedented opportunity, especially for businesses with experience in developing the core requirements of the network."

Collectively, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is Australia's second largest trading partner with two-way trade valued at $82.9 billion in 2008-09.