Seminars to help Oz firms capitalise on FTA
Seminars to help Oz firms capitalise on FTA
Ahead of the introduction of the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA), which comes into force on 1 January 2005, Austrade, with partners from industry and federal and state governments, is conducting a series of seminars to assist Australian businesses identify and secure opportunities in the vast US government market.
Led by a visiting delegation of US industry experts from Austrade and the private sector, the seminar series will be held in Melbourne (30 Nov), Canberra (1 Dec), Sydney (3 Dec,), Brisbane (7 Dec), in Perth (9 Dec) and Adelaide (10 Dec), offering valuable advice on how Australian businesses can capitalise on their expanded access to the $200 billion United States government procurement market.
Austrade’s Washington-based senior trade commissioner, Geoff Gray, said the US federal budget for technology procurement alone reached nearly US$60 billion in 2004, with more than half this amount being spent on homeland security.
"These seminars and one-on-one consultations will help Australian companies that are considering entering the US government procurement market navigate their way and avoid pitfalls.
“While the US presents enormous opportunities, existing and potential Australian exporters need to understand the challenges involved in doing business with US government agencies, including complex channels to market, strong competition and long sales cycles.
“Through this visit we look forward to providing Australian ICT and defence suppliers with advice on contacts, US regulatory procedures, registering as a government supplier, and the best ways of presenting their products to US government buyers.
“The US federal government is the world’s largest purchaser of technology products and services. Australian companies have a good track record of developing innovative technology solutions and security products which we believe have an excellent chance of interesting US government buyers,” he said.
Experts from the visiting delegation are available for a limited number of individual consultations with relevant Australian businesses. To request an individual consultation email exportIT@austrade.gov.au and an Austrade Export Adviser will be in touch to organise an appointment.
Companies with experience supplying Australian federal, state or local agencies but who have not yet explored export opportunities are particularly encouraged to attend the seminar series.
Further details, including registration, can be found at: www.austrade.gov.au/USgovtprocurement
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