International Trade is a major driver of the Australian economy. Exports create over 1.7 million jobs, are directly or indirectly, and 1 in 5 Australian jobs. Therefore a 10% increase in exports could create ~70,000 new jobs in Australia.

Conversely, Australia can NOT survive without imports, as Australian businesses are unable to produce all the goods and services required by customers in the domestic market. Be they imports airplanes, cars, computers, etc. consumers demand for goods and services may now be satisfied from global suppliers. In some industry sectors Australia is net importer of goods and services- like the ICT industry where Australia typically exports $2-3b/year and imports $20-25b/year. In other industries Australia is a net exporter- like university education, which generates $3-5b in foreign income/year.

During the September IMPORT/EXPORT show the dynamics of trade were explored with 20 experts sharing insights across 4 special seminars:

• Starting and Planning your international trade business (session 1),
• Marketing your way to success (session 2),
• how to minimize your exposure to financial risks (Session 3), and
• Efficient & Painless freight logistics & documentation (session 4).

Session 1 started with Corinne Campbell from Xdoc® outlining the potential risks involved in international trade and alternatives for minimizing or avoiding them through practical strategies. Potential risks and candidate mitigation strategies were discussed for negotiating contracts, hedging currency exposures, use of export credit insurance, doing due diligence on your distributors and partners, insurance, choosing your method of payments and proper planning to preclude poor performance (5Ps). On a more positive note, Scott Gillespie from ExpatriateConnect explained ways of assessing traders "export readiness". By gauging company and product export readiness entrepreneurs can than develop practical plans (with 90 day windows) that outline a road map for new market opportunities. As the Chinese character for risk and opportunity are the same it relevant for Aussie traders to invest equal amounts of time on risk management and opportunity assessment.

Protecting your business would not be complete without having a look at your risks from a legal perspective and Tal Williams from ABL lawyers delivered his presentation on IP protection for IP Australia. Tal explained that Intellectual Property (IP) includes domain names, copyright, business & corporate names, trademarks, patents, designs, trade secrets and confidential information. Australian businesses were encouraged to understand what their companies IP is and put in place strategies to protect it, recognizing that rights and protection vary by country.

To help unravel the maze of government support, David Howard described how their global Austrade network in 60 countries and 18 Australia offices could provider international business support including: the New Exporter Development Program, the Export Market Development Grant (EMDG) and tailored country & industry support. Vince Smith from Trade Services at the NSW Department of State and Regional Development (DSRD) shared the NSW Government support for exporters by offering Export Advisers, Exporters Network, Export Development, Trade Promotion, Trade Missions & Exhibitions. Scott Tanfield from AusIndustry highlighted the various Commonwealth programs designed to help businesses become more innovative and internationally competitive, including innovation grants, tax and duty concessions, industry support, venture capital programs as well as the Tradex Scheme helping importers to export, COMET (support to commercialize new technologies), Clean Business Australia, plus the new Climate Ready program.

Session 2 in the afternoon was very entertaining with Colin Green from Best of Show giving tips on how to plan for a trade show. Colin pointed out that to be successful you need to plan for the show by defining your target market, understanding the culture, choosing the right trade show, promoting your presence at the show, and following up. This hands-on presentation was followed by Ian Harrison from Australian Made who showed us the marketing power of the Australian Made logo and how to get it. Julia Palmer from BConsulted touched on cultural connections, stressing the importance of culture in business relationships. Stephen Donnoley from Creative Answers was very practical in his approach to use your web site to sell internationally by focusing on three stages: understanding how to get customers to your site, get customers to stay on your web site and buy and get customers to come back to your website. Michelle Gamble from Marketing Angels finished off the day with an holistic approach to marketing focusing on the importance of your brand and dividing the process into researching your clients, competitors and staff, reviewing/developing your brand, developing a strategic plan, implementing the plan and tracking and measuring effectiveness.

Day two of the show was very technical, the morning starting with Corinne Campbell from Xdoc® with a basic introduction to the main method of payments; prepayment, open account, documentary collections and documentary credit. It was followed by a much more in depth presentation by Colin George from EFIC on how to finance your trade for export by complementing what your bank offers; and Scott Flaxman from Westpac on how to finance your trade for import and understanding your cash flow. It highlighted the importance of talking to your bank about your International Trade financial situation so they can offer you a solution, as cash flow is a common problem. Barry Fletcher from American Express foreign Exchange Payments took the foreign out of foreign exchange by explaining how to manage international payments and alternatives to protect Australian companies from the risks of fluctuation with Foreign Exchange Contracts or Options by locking in a rate now for a specific time in the future. You can then plan for and budget your business expenses with more certainty. In this economic climate, what a relief to find that there are mitigation strategies to stabilize volatility!

COFACE, represented by Norman Beetge and Hamish Osborn, explained how your financial risks can be protected by simply taking trade credit insurance, an easy solution to a great risk.

The morning finished with Lisa Goodhand from China Blueprint shared valuable strategies on how to minimize supplier and distributor risks by NOT taking a learn-as-you-go attitude but rather engage experts who are familiar with the cultural subtleties and have a track record of delivering outcomes.

The final afternoon was a hands-on session led by Corinne Campbell from Xdoc® reviewing the key Incoterms (exworks, fob, cif, cfr, ddu and ddp.). Incoterms are internationally recognized standard shipping and transport terms that mean exactly the same to both parties, no matter where they are in the world- the bible for logistics. Peter Chamings followed it from Ozdocs who explained the export documentation process and the importance of getting it right with the motto: 'No job is complete until the paperwork is done.' Without documentation, export goods do not get cleared from Customs and often do not get paid by the importer- so do the paperwork properly as in equates to cash. Peter Blanchard from Tradegate went through the import documentation flow stressing that legally all cargo imported needs to be declared and reported. Gregory Johnson from Schenker Freight Logistics demystified the role of the freight forwarder and the importance of trusting your service provider and working together to deliver the best result for your business on today's shipment plus putting in processes for the long term. The Australian Customs Services and Australian Quarantine Inspection Services (AQIS) explained their role in protecting Australia and how importers and exporters that comply with regulations make importing and exporting easier for all involved.

The last session of the show was completed by Corinne Campbell from Xdoc® going through a check list on how to cost and price right and Frank Partlic from Sunshine Initiative, one of Corinne's ex student, showed how he managed to keep his prices and quotations up to date and precise by using an Excel spreadsheet.

A great 2 days with hundreds of attendees gaining insights across the spectrum of trade transactions from experts in the import/export space. For more information contact ExpatriateConnect or follow the links from each of the presenters. Corinne of Xdoc® and ExpatriateConnect did a fantastic job in organizing the speakers for the National IMPORT/EXPORT show.