Australian companies with export and offshore operations have ambitious plans for growth, despite the current global financial crisis, according to the 2009 EFIC Global Readiness index (GRi).

In February this year, 726 Australian business responded to EFIC’s GRi survey, providing insight into their experience of key aspects of going global – the drivers, destinations and obstacles, and the sources and availability of funding.

The results overwhelming showed that respondents are optimistic about the overseas
prospects for their operations with 84 per cent of companies with offshore operations planning to expand them, 52 per cent in the next year.

The top four destinations for offshore expansion by Australian companies are currently
North America, SE Asia, Europe and China with each attracting investment from around one third of respondents.

Over the next five years, investment in SE Asia is expected to show the greatest increase thanks to increasing opportunities in India.

Australian companies appear to be focused as much on positioning for the eventual recovery in the world economy as on coping with the current downturn.

They see offshore expansion as a strategic necessity, although the credit crunch and
economic downturn have heightened obstacles in their path, with access to finance identified as the single most daunting barrier.

Export Finance Insurance Corporation
Ph: 1800 887 577
www.efic.gov.au