PricewaterhouseCoopers Melbourne Institute Asialink Index
The PwC Melbourne Institute Asialink Index is the first multi-indicator measure of engagement between Asia and Australia. The Index tracks engagement along seven dimensions from 1990, charting Australia’s relations with Asia and comparing this to our relations with the rest of the world.
| 2009 Report [pdf, 2mb, 96 pages] | 2008 Report [pdf, 3.3mb, 84 pages] |
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2009 report:
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2008 report:
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Transcripts of speeches from the launch of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Melbourne Institute Asialink Index
- Introduction - Sid Myer, Chairman Asialink [pdf, 96kb, 5 pages]
- Launch - The Hon Simon Crean MP, Minister for Trade [pdf, 80kb, 15 pages]
- Remarks - Prof Stephen Sedgwick, Director Melbourne Institute [pdf, 16kb, 2 pages]
- A Business Perspective - Alex Thursby, CEO Asia Pacific, ANZ [pdf, 132kb, 6 pages]
Australia engaged but not yet wedded to Asia
Australia's international relationships are increasingly located in Asia rather than the rest of the world according to the first ever comprehensive index of Australian / Asian engagement, the PricewaterhouseCoopers Melbourne Institute Asialink Index.
The Index, launched February13 by Australian Minister for Trade, the Hon Simon Crean, reveals that Australia's regional relationships are growing much faster than the country's traditional alliances in Europe and the U.S.
In welcoming the new Index, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd urged Australians to contribute to the discussion about our nation's engagement with the region. "I hope the analysis and commentary in the PricewaterhouseCoopers Melbourne Institute Asialink Index will reach deep into the Australian community," he said.
The Index was a major collaborative effort between PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Melbourne Institute and Asialink at the University of Melbourne.
What does the Index measure?
The Index measures changes across a range of areas between Australia and 25 Asian economies in the period 1990 – 2007:
- Trade
- Investment
- Tourism
- Education
- Migration
- business development
- humanitarian assistance
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The Index tracks engagement along these seven dimensions between 1990 and 2007. It is an unweighted average of its seven components, each of which uses 1990 as the base year and 100 as the base number. Trade and investment are measured using monetary values. The education, tourism, migration components are measured in numbers of people. Research and business development, and humanitarian assistance are shown in index format.
What are the main findings?
According to Associate Professor Beth Webster at the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne,
"Asia's importance to Australia's future is clear. For the first time, this index enables us to quantify objectively which form of engagement — be it trade, education, tourism, research or humanitarian assistance — is growing fastest and which countries are forging stronger ties over time".
To date, Australia's engagement with Asia has generally shown upward movement. However, bilateral investment has been comparatively flat, confirming Australia's preference to invest in markets outside of Asia and vice versa. In launching the Index, Asialink Chairman, Mr Sid Myer encouraged further Australian economic and cultural investment in Asia:
"this lower investment rate suggests that in some ways Asia is still a little out of Australia's comfort zone. It's imperative, in the current economic climate, that we have a greater understanding of Asia. We need to understand the languages, the cultures; we need an appreciation of individual countries' histories and geographies".
The first edition of the Index, to be updated annually, contains contributions from many of Australia's foremost public figures, businesspeople and Asia thinkers, including a reflective essay from Professor Tony Milner of the Australian National University.
Key Index findings:
Selected insights from the Index are:
- The index shows that Australia's engagement with the world tripled since 1990, but its engagement with Asia quadrupled.
- Overall engagement with Asia conceals variations between the components as well as between economies. Such variation underlines the complex, multifaceted character of engagement.
- Unsurprisingly China has shown the strongest rate of growth in engagement, but South Korea and India have also grown significantly in recent years.
- The volume of trade between Australia and Asia has been greater than that with the rest of the world since 2004.
- Australia's two-way trade with ASEAN in 2007 was greater than that with China, despite a population less than half that of China.
- ASEAN, as a grouping of nations, was Australia's top engagement partner for 2007 across indicators.
- The significance of India is also brought into sharper focus in the Index. Two-way trade with India is increasing strongly, from a very low base. However, in 2007, it was still less than two-way trade with Singapore or Thailand.
- Australian investors have a clear preference for other parts of the world over Asia. Two-way investment flows between Australia and Asia are dwarfed by those with the rest of the world.