The Assistant Treasurer Senator Rod Kemp today announced the release of the Foreign Investment Review Board 1998-99 Report.
The main points in the FIRB’s 1998-99 report are as follows:
- Foreign investment policy is applied with the objective of encouraging worthwhile foreign investment. The policy changes that took effect from 10 September 1999 are reported.
- Of the 4,754 proposals decided in 1998-99:
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- 4,642 were approved (2,918 with conditions, mainly in the real estate sector) and 112 were rejected. This compared with 4,261 approvals (2,567 with conditions) and 114 rejections in 1997-98.
- During 1998-99 there were 5 divestiture orders.
- Approvals in 1998-99 involved proposed investment (either alone or in partnership with Australians) of around $67.0 billion. This represented a 16 per cent decrease on the previous year’s approvals of $79.5 billion.
- The value of approvals increased for services (excluding tourism) from $19.5 billion in 1997-98 to $22.6 billion in 1998-99. Approvals for manufacturing declined from $23.5 billion to $16.5 billion and for for real estate from $16.3 billion to $11.2 billion. The sharpest decline in percentage terms was in the tourism sector experiencing a 70 per cent fall in the value of approvals from $3.6 billion to $1.1 billion.
- The 206 largest proposals (each with proposed investment of more than $50 million) accounted for about $53.4 billion or about 80 per cent of total proposed investment.
- The United States was the most important source of proposed foreign investment in Australia during 1998-99 accounting for around 44 per cent of the total. The other major source of proposed foreign investment was the United Kingdom, increasing its investment in Australia from $8.4 billion in 1997-98 to $12.7 billion in 1998-99 or 19 per cent of the total.
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 Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates of foreign investment in Australia.
The FIRB report for 1998-99 will be formally tabled when Parliament resumes in February 2000.
Copies of the Foreign Investment Review Board Report 1998-99 can be purchased at Australian Government Info Shops and accessed at http://www.treasury.gov.au on the internet.
The website also provides, on a continuing updated basis, the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 and Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Regulations 1989 as well as guidance notes helping people to understand their responsibilities under the Act and how to complete a foreign investment application.
CANBERRA
23 December, 1999
Media contacts:
Janine Murphy Executive Member FIRB/Treasury (02) 6263 3763
Richard Allsop Assistant Treasurer’s Office (0419) 482497