In recent years, several high level visits from Bangladesh to Australia have taken place. In 1999, the then Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina Wajed visited Australia followed by the current Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia in March 2002 to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). Commerce Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury visited Australia in April 2004 to open the Bangladesh Festival in Sydney which featured the trade opportunities and rich cultural heritage in Bangladesh.

Two-way trade between Bangladesh and Australia has increased over time, although not in a consistent manner and often with some year-to-year volatility. Bangladesh imports more from Australia than it exports to it. Recent trade statistics show that Bangladesh has an adverse balance of merchandise trade with Australia of over $200 million (Australian dollars). This trade gap fluctuates from year to year, depending on the amount of exports and imports traded per year. For example, in 2001, Bangladesh had a trade deficit of $304 million (exports: $46 million, imports: $350 million) that went down to $181 million in 2003 (Source: Composition of Trade 2003, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade).

The principal exports of Bangladesh to Australia comprise fertilizers, leather, woven fabrics, and textile manufactures, while the principal imports from Australia are milk and cream, fresh vegetables, butter, cotton, oil seeds and oleaginous fruits, machinery and transport equipment, and mineral products (aluminium, lead, and zinc). Bangladesh has a narrow range of products exported to Australia compared to the large variety of goods being imported from Australia.

With total bilateral trade over $310 million in 2004, there is a potential for further growth in exports to Australia. Bangladesh now enjoys trade concessions from Australia. Since July 1, 2003, products from Bangladesh enter Australia duty-free and quota-free.

I consider that Bangladesh needs to develop a country specific trade strategy if wants to increase its exports to Australia by any significant amount so as to decrease its trade deficit with Australia. There is a Commercial Counsellor working at the Bangladesh High Commission in Canberra. Among other things, he makes contacts with Australian trade and industry bodies, including importers, trying to promote Bangladeshi products for export.

While the efforts of the Bangladesh High Commission in promoting Bangladeshi exports to Australia is commendable, more resource need to be committed especially by the private sector exporters and their associations in Bangladesh in order to carry out effective promotional and marketing activities in Australia. Like any other market in an increasingly globalised economy, the Australian market is very competitive and the Australian importers have access to a wide range of international markets from which to source their imports. For instance, China has a huge presence in Australia in terms of its exports that include so many products, from toothpaste to electronics to garments and what not.

I think the Bangladeshi exporters or their associations (such as BGMEA) should examine the commercial viability of establishing a representative office in Sydney or Melbourne that can provide the opportunity for them to make closer and more effective contacts with the existing and prospective importers in Australia. Most of the Australian importers are based in Sydney and Melbourne and these two cities account for about 40 per cent of Australia's total population of 20 million.

The representative office can provide an important platform for the Bangladeshi exporters to do business with Australia. This does not need to be a big office -- only two to three people having export marketing knowledge and experience may be enough to do the contacts/liaison job and any other activities that will help obtain business from Australian importers. This office may also be tasked to carry out some occasional promotional and marketing activities in New Zealand and other South Pacific island countries such as Fiji.

The cost of establishing and maintaining the above office could be shared by those exporters' associations in Bangladesh which have a keen interest in growing their business in Australia. Consideration could be given to involving the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) in Bangladesh. The EPB may be willing to contribute towards sharing the costs of maintaining the office in Australia through some financial arrangements. EPB's active involvement will be consistent with its export policy objectives of increasing exports and reducing trade deficit through practical measures. In general, any public-private partnership works well to achieve the desired goals. Thus the partnership between the exporters' associations and the EPB in establishing and maintaining a representative office in Australia is expected to make a positive contribution to increasing exports to Australia.

Some sector specific areas where more efforts may be needed to increase exports to Australia, I believe, are: jute and jute goods, tea, other agro-based products, sea fish and prawns/lobsters, leather and leather goods, computer software, textiles and garments, and handicrafts. The Bangladeshi exporters and other stakeholders may wish to do some further research in this regard to have a better understanding of where resources need to be committed.

In any case, without vigorous and aggressive promotion and marketing activities in Australia, it is unlikely that the exports from Bangladesh will increase to have a significant positive impact on the trade deficit with Australia.

Abdul Quader is an economist.