30 March 1999

Foreign Investment Review Board: 1997-98 Annual Report

The Foreign Investment Review Board’s 1997-98 Annual Report was released today.

The main points in the FIRB’S 1997-98 annual report are as follows:

  • Foreign investment policy continued to be applied with the objective of encouraging worthwhile foreign investment.
  • Of the 4,375 proposals decided in 1997-98:
    • 4,261 were approved (2,567 with conditions, mainly in the real estate sector) and 114 were rejected (mainly in the real estate sector). This compared with 4,096 approvals (2,610 with conditions) and 105 rejections in 1996-97.
  • During 1997-98 there were 14 divestiture orders.
  • Approvals in 1997-98 (either alone or in partnership with Australians) involved proposed investment of around $79.5 billion ($58.6 billion in 1996-97). Approvals do not necessarily mean investments proceed (see below).
  • Compared with approvals in 1996-97, proposed investment increased; for services (excluding tourism) from $13.9 billion to $19.5 billion, for real estate from $11.4 billion to $16.3 billion, for mineral exploration and development $4.8 billion to $8.6 billion and for manufacturing from $21.2 billion to $23.5 billion.
  • The 224 largest proposals (each with proposed investment of more than $50 million) accounted for about $64 billion or 80 per cent of total proposed investment.
  • Investors from the United States doubled their proposed investment in Australia compared to the previous year. The increase was reflected across all sectors. United States total proposed investment in relation to approvals increased from $18.0 billion in 1996-97 to $36.3 billion in 1997-98. As a percentage of total proposed investment by all countries, United States proposed investment increased from 30 per cent to 45 per cent.

The FIRB statistics relate to the administration of foreign investment policy. Major qualifications apply to these statistics, particularly the estimates of proposed investments associated with approvals. For example, the proposals approved may or may not be implemented. If implemented, it could be over a period of years. The Board’s statistics are substantively different from the ABS estimates of foreign investment in Australia.

Copies of the FIRB Annual Report can be purchased at Australian Government Info Shops and accessed at http://www.treasury.gov.au/firb on the internet.