ANZ recently hosted a trade delegation to Shanghai and Singapore, where 20 delegates saw how they could tap into international markets, ANZ Tasmanian regional executive Chris Sparks said.

“We realise that expanding internationally can be daunting but with Asia on our doorstep, and showing strong demand for Australian produce and products, it’s too big an opportunity for us not be pursuing,” Mr Sparks said.

“Late last year ANZ released the latest edition of the ANZ Opportunity Asia Report. Headlining the report was the $138 billion revenue potential if Australia’s businesses took the leap they’d been talking about and expanded to Asia.

“We’ll be making delegations like this 2-3 times each year. We have another one coming up on agricultural innovation in Japan and Beijing,” he said.

The forum included a panel discussion, with Ashgrove Cheese chairman Paul Bennett, Austrade Tasmania assistant state director Ollie Shugg and ANZ Northern Tasmania agribusiness manager Bart McCulloch speaking on export opportunities for Tasmanian businesses.

“Tasmania has developed a world class reputation of producing premium agricultural produce. We are going to hear a lot about dairy, berries, fruit, apples, nuts, honey and other boutique industries. It will have a tourism theme as well,” Mr Sparks said.

Mr Bennett discussed the history of Ashgrove Cheese and insights that he gained as part of the delegation.

Ashgrove exports to China, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Fiji, Singapore and Bali.

“One of my key learnings was that the scale of the [Chinese] market is mind boggling,” Mr Bennett said.

“Many Chinese people are wealthy, well educated and well connected. The average Chinese person shops online up to 13 times a day and expect things to be delivered straight away,” he said.

While Tasmania’s online shopping is not as advanced as that of China, Mr Bennett said Chinese people held the state in extremely high regard which was a big factor for exports.

“Tasmanian products are seen as being of the highest quality by the Chinese,” Mr Bennett said.

Another point discussed at the forum was the length of time it took to establish a business in another country, like China.

“Lots of Australian businesses spend up to 12 years to get their business going in China,” Mr Bennett said.

Exports only make up 1-2 per cent of Asgrove Cheese’s business for now, but Mr Bennett said that could change in the future.

“We are looking at business opportunities and want to retain our reputation as a premium dairy producer,” he said.

“Our first preference is for the Tasmanian/Australian market, but if opportunities arise in China and other countries we will look at them,” Mr Bennett said.

Mr Sparks said ANZ, in collaboration with the Export Council of Australia, had developed a tool for businesses considering exporting called Be Trade Ready.

“Be Trade Ready has been designed to assist Australian businesses to assess and plan for their international expansion. It’s a first for the Australian market,” he said.