**Check against delivery
Good morning ladies and gentlemen and thank you Glen Feist, Vice Chairman of the Chamber.
It is a pleasure to have this opportunity to speak to you today and to officially launch the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Korea - AustCham.
I am aware that the chamber has a legacy spanning two decades.From its humble beginnings as the Australian Business Group in Korea in the 1990s, it became the Australia and New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Korea in 2001, before finally establishing itself late last year as an independent Australian Chamber.
The new AustCham will continue to perform the vital role of strengthening business links between Australia and Korea.
This is my first trip to the Republic of Korea as Minister for Resources and Energy, and Minister for Tourism.
I note that in the past 12 months, we have had six Australian Ministers, including the Prime Minister visiting Korea - a sign of our respect for this important relationship. The Minister for Trade is also planning a visit later in the year.
My portfolio responsibilities form the cornerstone of Australia's trade relationship with South Korea - and this relationship should become deeper over the next few years as opportunities for growth arise.
Our futures are intertwined.
In trade, Australia is rightly seen in Korea as a reliable and trusted partner.
We can thank the work of groups such as the Chamber of Commerce for this solid relationship, building on our strong work ethic and reliability.
As Korea imports 97 per cent of its energy requirements - most of which can be supplied by Australia - we see an important role in helping meet the future energy and economic development needs of Korea.
In November 2006 South Korea's National Energy Committee outlined Korea's energy goals and plans.
It identified three main priorities:
- Energy security.
- Energy efficiency.
- Environmental friendliness.
These mesh with Korea's long-term national energy road map, the National Energy Basic Plan 2008-2030.
The plan foreshadowed significant expansion of domestic LNG storage facilities and the development of a further 12 nuclear reactors and 19 thermoelectric power plants, plus further investment in renewable energy and energy-efficiency measures.
In each of these endeavours, Australia and Korea have a shared future.
These also form the basis of our plans for Australia's energy future, both for domestic supply and as an energy exporter.
Few countries have embraced the need for clean energy andenergy security with the same enthusiasm as Korea, or the Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
His ambitious New Green Deal - a plan to make Korea a low carbon, green growth economy - was on display during President Lee's visit to Australia in March when he met with the Prime Minister and also took the opportunity to visit the Australian Research Council's Photovoltaic Centre of Excellence in NSW.
Australia and Korea are already working side-by-side to meet these goals.
In September last year, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that Australia would lead the global effort to reduce carbon emissions from energy production through the development and deployment of carbon capture and storage technology.
This work will be carried out through the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute.
The Institute has received incredible support from the international community and I am pleased to say that the Republic of Korea has signed on as a Foundation Member of the Institute.
Our work through the Institute - along with our work through the Asia Pacific Partnership and other international fora - will help secure a clean energy future for Koreans while maintaining Korea's energy security.
As already noted, for Korea, energy security is not negotiable.Just as it is not negotiable for Australia and in this regard, we are developing an Energy White Paper that will explore in detail the issues of energy security.
Korea imports 97 per cent of its energy requirements, much of it from Australia.
Of Australia's $14 billion export trade with Korea each year.
- Crude petroleum accounted for almost $2.4 billion
- Coal for $2.4 billion;
- Iron Ore for another $2.1 billion.
Australian steaming coal accounts for around one-third of Korean imports and one-half of Korea's coking coal needs.
The future looks more exciting.
For a start, Australia and Korea will soon commence Free Trade Agreement negotiations - a landmark outcome of President Lee's visit to Australia.
South Korea is one of 12 countries currently building nuclear reactors, and is one of the countries to whom Australia supplies uranium under long-term contracts.
Of course, as Korea meets Australian requirements for non-proliferation, we would be delighted to supply more uranium as the new reactors coming online.I can assure you today that the Australian Government is doing everything we can to expand Uranium mining, working with our State and Territory Government colleagues.
Korea's timing couldn't be better.
Australia's uranium production capacity is expected to double in the period to 2015 with the proposed expansion at South Australia's Olympic Dam, from around 4,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) to 19,000Â tpa, along with capacity expansion at the Ranger and Beverley mines and the opening of the Honeymoon mine.
Another 3-4 projects are under consideration in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia.
These sites are anticipated to fill any gap caused by delay to the Olympic Dam expansion because of the Global Financial Crisis.
Australia has also welcomed foreign direct investment in Australian uranium: Kores/Daewoo has invested in Marathon Resources and SK Energy in Callabonna, to name just two.
These uranium investments follow decades of Korean investment in Australia, helping secure Korean supply and develop Australian resources in key sectors such as coal.
POSCO, the world's third largest steel company, stands as one of Australia's largest single customers, with the company importing 61 per cent of its coal requirements and 67 per cent of its iron ore from Australia.[1]
Investments in Australia - a country renowned for low sovereign risk and a transparent foreign investment regime - make us the ideal partner in growth.
This point was reinforced in my discussions last night with the President of KOGAS, Mr Choo.
On the foreign investment front, I will say that we are a country built on foreign investment.We are very keen to work with Korean business to invest in Australia.
Understand that in the important transition to a low carbon economy, LNG will become exceptionally important.
In Australia, we expect a significant expansion of our LNG industry - not just in the area of the North West Shelf and in the Northern Territory, but also in the East through coal seam methane.
This is very important for Korea, as it goes to the heart of energy security for Korea and a great opportunity to work together on our mutual priorities.
We are currently only meeting part of Korea's LNG needs, but there is a rich, mutually beneficial opportunity to improve this situation.
In June, we will release the new Offshore Petroleum Acreage.My Department will visit Korea to encourage Korean companies to take up exploration and investment opportunities in Australia.
I encourage you to participate in these information sessions on the areas and opportunities for upstream petroleum investment.
So far, my speech has highlighted the resource and energy relationship between Australia and Korea, but of course that is not the totality of our relationship. Australia is also a major supplier of beefand a large and growing supplier of education services.
There is another over which I have portfolio responsibility, and one which is equally important to Australia, and one which we seek to develop further - tourism.
The South Korean market is one of Australia's most valued and established markets.
Korean inbound visitor numbers grew steadily for five years up until 2007.
Recently, this trend reversed.
In 2007, visitors from Korea declined 3.1 per cent.
In real terms, this is a decline of over 8 per cent relative to the forecast increase of 5.2 per cent.
There are a number of factors for this decline:
- increased competition from short haul destinations;
- the strengthening of Australian dollar (at a 23 year high compared to the Korean currency); and
- increased package tour prices.
The increase in tour prices reflects the true cost of running tours for Korean tourists.In the short term these price increases will affect visitor numbers, but this is important to improve the quality of the tourism experience.
No matter the reason, it is clear to me as Minister that for Australia to remain a priority destination for the Korean market, the Australian industry needs to offer a high-quality product and value for money.
These goals form the thinking behind the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy.
The Government is keen to enhance the quality of the tourism experience for Koreans in Australia.
The new Tourist Consumer Protection Working Group's online complaint form has resulted in a number of Korean complaints which my Department is referring to offices of fair trading in each state as appropriate.This is a clear commitment by our Government to ensure Korean visitors are looked after and have a quality experience.
Be assured, we are constantly striving to improve the experience for Korean travellers to Australia.
Korea is our seventh biggest tourism market - we take the expectation of Korean visitors seriously.
Indeed, we take the entire relationship with Korea seriously.
Our engagement together, with the support of your Chamber, will increase in coming years, as trading partners, as innovators in a clean energy future, as travellers ... as friends.
We very much value the relationship with Korea as a long established friend.There are many challenges, such as climate change that we can continue to address together through measures as increasing LNG and uranium investment and trade, low emissions coal initiatives and the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute.
Congratulations to all involved in the establishment of the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Korea.
Thank you.
[1] www.posco.com