Australia'S Maritime Bridge into Asia

As Australia develops its relations with the Asia Pacific region, maritime activities deserve particular attention. Throughout the '80s and '90s, most economies of Northeast and Southeast Asia have grown twice as fast as those elsewhere. Most Asian countries depend upon the sea for foodstuffs, trade and longer term economic prosperity. Many are investing heavily in offshore resource developments, expanding their merchant shipping fleets, placing added emphasis in the maritime capabilities of their military forces. As these countries become more interdependent, maritime issues will become important. "Australia's Maritime Bridge Into Asia" reveals the great potential for Australia to participate in maritime developments in the Asia Pacific region. It explains how Australia has a number of comparative advantages over competitors from Europe and North America in exploiting opportunities in the Asia Pacific region. It sets out Australia's successes in maritime fields such as ship design, boatbuilding, exploration of offshore oil and gas, information technology, and particular areas of maritime science.
It shows how Australia is thus well placed to take advantage of the opportunities opening up in "new" areas such as innovative ship construction, aquaculture, mariculture, marine biotechnology and systems design and software. The extensive maritime interests Australia shares with Asia and its skills and expertise provide a building block for regional cooperation, a means whereby Australia can better participate in the development of the dynamic region to our north - in short a "maritime bridge into Asia".