ASR was honoured to receive a video message from Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, The Hon. Simon Birmingham, congratulating us on our 20th Anniversary of services sector advocacy. The message was played at our 2020 Annual General Meeting and also served as the launch of our recently-published Statistical Showcase. “The services sector has a […]
ASR Joins Multiassociation Statement Expressing Concerns Over Chinese Personal Information Protection Law
The Australian Services Roundtable has joined a number of international digital advocacy bodies to raise concerns about China’s draft Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL). As the statement details, “The draft PIPL (Article 40) requires critical information infrastructure operators and personal information processors transferring ‘personal information reaching quantities provided by the State Cybersecurity and Information Department’ […]
2020 Statistical Showcase
To mark the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Australian Services Roundtable (ASR) we are proud to present a groundbreaking statistical showcase that tracks the strong performance of Australia’s services industries over the first 20 years of the millennium. The analysis draws on best practice international data sets to offer ground-breaking new findings on […]
New T20 Policy Brief from ASR Director Jane Drake-Brockman on Digital Trade
ASR Director Jane Drake-Brockman is lead author of a new T20 Policy Brief: “Impact of Digital Technologies and the Fourth Industrial Revolution on Trade in Services.” From the abstract: Digital technologies are cutting trade costs for services, turning more services from non-tradables into tradables, and putting trade in services on a stronger relative growth path than […]
Video: ASR Moderates Digital Trade Session at Geneva Trade Week
Australian Services Roundtable Director Jane Drake-Brockman moderated the opening session in the Digital Trade stream at Geneva Trade Week on Monday 28 September, Session 3: Digital Trade and Services Trade – Are They Increasingly the Same? Trade is increasingly going digital, blurring the distinctions between goods and services, commerce and e-commerce. Different regions of the world are […]
New Data Links Outward Investment in Services to Australia’s Services Export Performance
By Professor Jane Drake-Brockman Measurement of trade in services is notoriously difficult. The official statistics on imports and exports contained in the Balance of Payments (BOP) are well known, for example, as measuring poorly at best only three of the four modes of international supply of services. As defined in the WTO, the four modes of […]
ASR Calls For Delay To India’s New Digital Tax
29 April 2020: ASR joined a global coalition of nine business associations in a letter to India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, seeking delay in implementation of the recent expansion of India’s Equalisation Levy, in order to hold formal stakeholder consultations on the measure and allow for ongoing OECD negotiations to continue. The letter notes that the limited timeframe within which India’s expansive new levy was approved and took effect allowed for […]
ASR 20th Anniversary Celebrations
Dear Friends, Alumni and Colleagues of the Australian Services roundtable. This year we mark 20 years of advocacy for the Australian services sector and would like you to join us for a drink to celebrate. ASR member IBM has kindly offered to host alumni, members and friends for a cocktail reception in Sydney on December […]
Global Industry Urges E-Commerce Agreement, Permanent Moratorium on E-Duties
Two major statements, on the WTO e-commerce negotiations and the immanent expiry of the WTO e-commerce moratorium, have been released by the Global Services Coalition and a “Global Industry” multi-association coalition. For the first time, the GSC has managed to attract signatories from two ASEAN business groups, The Singapore Business Federation and the Indonesian Services […]
New Publication – Potential Benefits of an Australia-EU Free Trade Agreement: Key Issues and Options
Since June 2018 Australia and the European Union have been negotiating a Free Trade Agreement. Potential Benefits of an Australia-EU Free Trade Agreement: Key Issues and Options, edited by ASR President Jane Drake-Brockman, offers insights from recognised experts in the field, from Australia, Europe and Asia, on the potential economic benefits to be reaped from greater economic openness. […]