Why Australia – SE Asia trade could be about to boom | The Business | ABC NEWS

Amid changes to international trade relationships and supply chains, the special envoy to Southeast Asia says Australian trade partnerships with the region are accelerating quickly.
Nicholas Moore, who was the chief executive of the Macquarie Group for a decade, says Southeast Asia is already Australia’s second largest trading partner, behind China, at $160 billion a year. He says by 2040, trade could step up to $500 billion a year.
Those growth areas, he says, include commodities – such as critical minerals processing, which already happens in Malaysia, university courses – with MIT in Vietnam and Monash in Malaysia, and the skills sector, which is Australia’s largest services export to the region.
Mr Moore says Australia’s investment in the region is at around 2.5 per cent, while foreign direct investment from the rest of the world, sits at about 8 per cent. He says he sees that as “part of the big opportunity for Australian businesses and Australian institutions going forward”.
He agrees the greatest returns for Australia lie in areas such as critical minerals, AI, energy and security.
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