Southeast Asia hubs for investment Deal Teams

Australia will launch Investment Deal Team hubs in Singapore, Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City, with additional Deal Team representatives across the ASEAN region.

Announced by Prime Minister Albanese at the launch of Invested: Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, the Deal Teams will work with governments and business in Southeast Asia to identify and facilitate outbound investment opportunities for Australian investors.

They will draw on public and private sector expertise to identify a pipeline of investment-ready projects, provide market intelligence, and advise Australian investors on matters from regulatory approvals to finding local commercial partners.

The $70.2 million Deal Teams involve experts from Austrade, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and Export Finance Australia (EFA), and form part of the Government's implementation of Invested: Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040.

They will also support businesses access the newly announced $2 billion Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility, administered by EFA, and other trade and investment initiatives to facilitate and crowd-in Australian private sector investment across Southeast Asia.

Details of the first business mission under the $19.2 million Australia-Southeast Asia Business Exchange (SEABX) were also announced by the Albanese Government at the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit. The first mission will visit Singapore and Malaysia in April this year, and focus on driving trade and investment in the clean energy transition.

SEABX will help more Australian businesses identify and capture commercial opportunities in the fast-growing, rapidly-changing markets in Southeast Asia.

This Business Exchange program will also work to deepen Southeast Asia business literacy in the Australian private sector community.

The program will deliver a range of services to support Australian businesses to identify emerging opportunities, including through targeted sectoral business missions to help boost our trade with Southeast Asia.

To learn more or get involved in the Deal Teams or Southeast Asia Business Exchange missions visit: www.austrade.gov.au/asea

These announcements implement several key recommendations in Nicholas Moore's report, available at: Invested: Australia's Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040

Quotes attributable to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong:

"Deal Teams embedded across the region, in conjunction with the Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility and Australia-Southeast Asia Business Exchange, will identify and maximise opportunities for Australian businesses.

"Increasing our economic security is a key element of our statecraft and central to our national interest.

"Working closely with regional partners means we can create opportunity together and build the assurance that comes with knowing our success is their success."

Quotes attributable to the Minister for Trade and Tourism, Don Farrell:

"Australia's economic future is with Southeast Asia, and we're invested in our region.

"The Albanese Labor Government is taking practical steps to help our exporters and investors expand and diversify into this exciting market, to create more high-paying jobs at home.

"One in four Australian jobs rely on trade, and Southeast Asia presents enormous opportunities for our exporters and producers.

"By launching Deal Team hub in Singapore, Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City with new business missions across Southeast Asia we will help drive more Australian trade and investment in the region."