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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 10 Hansard (23 September) . . Page.. 3141 ..

MR KAINE (Minister for Urban Services) (3.44): For the information of members, I present the Government's response to Report No. 5 of the Standing Committee on Social Policy, entitled "Inquiry into the Use of Skateboards and In-line Skates near Shops", which was presented to the Assembly on 8 May 1997. I move:

That the Assembly takes note of the paper.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

MRS CARNELL (Chief Minister and Minister for Business and Employment): Mr Speaker, I seek leave of the Assembly to make a ministerial statement on the CanTrade business delegation to China.

Leave granted.

MRS CARNELL: Members will recall that in January this year I led a delegation of ACT business representatives to China to investigate a range of trade and investment opportunities. With the assistance of the local Chinese community and the Chinese Embassy, some very exciting opportunities arose from that visit. Perhaps most exciting was the invitation extended by the Mayor of Yangzhou and the Vice-Mayor of Beijing for the ACT to return for a second delegation, focusing on the ACT's business strengths. The chairman of CanTrade, Jim Murphy, took up this invitation, and, in line with CanTrade's role of promoting export opportunities, arrangements were made for 27 private sector, government and Chinese community representatives to take part in the delegation. On 17 June, the delegation left Canberra, and for 21/2 weeks held trade shows and business negotiations in Shanghai, Yangzhou, Beijing and Guangzhou. In addition to CanTrade and ACT Government representatives, the delegation comprised delegates from a range of corporations and private sector companies. These included the Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation, the Australian National University, ACTEW, Telstra, the Australian International Hotel School, Evermore Express, Praxa, Technik, and Select Computers.

The focus of the CanTrade business delegation was to showcase a range of ACT and regional industry sectors and products considered to be compatible with the Chinese market. These ran the gamut from high technology; environmental management, education and training; engineering; and primary produce from the Australian capital region. The purpose of the delegation was twofold: First, to explore the opportunities for mutually beneficial government-to-government contact, particularly in areas such as tourism, education, hotel management, and fire and emergency services. Secondly, the delegation was designed in such a way as to maximise the opportunity for participating firms to explore the Chinese market and to pursue potential opportunities and joint venture arrangements.

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