Compendium of Priorities and Initiatives (Continued)
Foreign Affairs and Trade
TradeStart Program
The Government is committed to developing and expanding trade and investment opportunities for Australian companies and is providing $14.4 million over four years to maintain the TradeStart program.
The program will deliver Austrade trade and investment services in a range of locations across Australia. The refreshed program will focus on enhanced effectiveness through collaboration with delivery partners and will assist small and medium business in metropolitan and regional areas to compete in international markets. It will also broaden the focus from export opportunities to assistance in trade and investment. The partnership based model aims to achieve integrated service delivery and improve access for businesses to the complementary range of services offered by Austrade and partner organisations.
Export Market Development Grants scheme
The Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) scheme is a key Government financial assistance program for current and aspiring exporters. The scheme, administered by Austrade, aims to encourage small and medium‑sized Australian businesses to develop export markets by reimbursing up to 50 per cent of eligible export promotion expenses above a threshold of $10,000. The scheme is open to eligible Australian businesses who can claim up to a total of eight grants of a maximum of $200,000 each.
Of the total number of EMDG grants paid in 2008‑09 (relating to eligible expenditure incurred in 2007‑08), 22.8 per cent were awarded to recipients from rural and regional Australia, an increase of 0.5 per cent over the previous year. For the same year, 79.2 per cent of all grants were awarded to small businesses with an annual income of $5 million or less.
Consistent with its election commitment, the Government implemented changes in 2008 to revitalise the EMDG scheme which applied for the first time to eligible export promotional expenditure incurred from 1 July 2008, and which impact on grants paid in 2009‑10. Of particular relevance to regional Australia have been the changes allowing approved regional not-for-profit economic development bodies, including tourism bodies which promote Australian exporters, to access the scheme; cutting the minimum threshold of expenditure by $5,000, to a $10,000 minimum; and replacing the list of eligible services provided in Australia with a negative list, which means all services are now considered eligible unless otherwise specified.
Other changes impacting on grants paid in 2009‑10 included increasing the maximum grant by $50,000 to $200,000; allowing as an eligible expense the costs of patenting products; lifting the maximum turnover limit from $30 million to $50 million; and extending the limit on the number of grants from seven to eight annual grants.
Further information
Further information about these and other foreign affairs and trade initiatives relating to rural and regional Australia is available at www.austrade.gov.au.
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