Welcome to ITS Global
ITS Global is a dynamic public policy consultancy specializing in cutting edge issues in international trade, economic development and environment.
We have assisted clients in diverse projects, providing them with expert trade economic advice, quality business strategies, technical analysis across a range of industries and sectors. ITS Global builds on the activities of International Trade Strategies which was established more than 16 years ago.
Highlights
New ITS Global report - Low Carbon Growth Plan for Australia: A critique of the Report by ClimateWorks Australia
This report critiques a plan to cut Australian greenhouse gas emissions
published by ClimateWorks Australia in March 2010. Its plan was based
on an abatement cost curve for Australia developed by McKinsey &
Company. The ITS Global critique demonstrates that the plan has
overestimated the benefits and underestimated the costs of abatement.
Read the full report by ITS Global here.
Australia to ease investment rules after China saga
Reuters publishes commentary by ITS Global Chief Economist, Jeff Rae, on Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan’s announcement of an easing of foreign-investment rules:
Jeff Rae, chief economist with investment consultancy ITS Global, welcomed the reforms but said the screening process still lacked transparency and remained prone to political controversy. 'They (the reforms) would not have taken the heat out of any of the Chinese investments,' Rae said.
Read the full article here.
Principal of ITS Global appears on SBS World News Australia
SBS broadcasts commentary by the Principal of ITS Global, Alan Oxley, on detention of foreigners:
"Whenever there's a downturn in a market, or things change, it's not unusual to take recourse against foreigners and foreign contracts. Often it's more difficult for the foreigner take legal recourse compared to, say, a business partner in the country concerned."
Read the full transcript here.
'Buy Aussie' to set state on road to financial ruin
The Principal of ITS Global, Alan Oxley, is quoted in a piece by the Asia-Pacific editor of The Australian, Rowan Callick:
Alan Oxley, who was Australia's ambassador to the World Trade Organisation's predecessor and is now managing director of trade consultancy ITS Global, asked: "Why is Australia's least competitive, lowest-growth state doing this?
"Even before the downturn, NSW was our weakest performing economy. It is the state that can least afford to implement even worse policies. It should be driving harder in the other direction. This will foster businesses which are not globally competitive, which is not a way to ensure NSW gains its share of jobs when the economy picks up.”
… Mr Oxley warned that the NSW Labor government may trigger a trade dispute with the US by broadening exemptions from the liberalising clauses of FTAs, from small businesses employing 200 people or fewer, as in the US agreement, to cover firms with up to 500 staff.
Read the full article here.
Don't kill exports
An opinion piece by ITS Global Principal Alan Oxley featured in the Australian:
THE better than expected recent economic performance is significantly attributable to our strong export performance. Yet pressure is growing to restrict trade.
Read the full article here.
New ITS Global report – “Foreign investment in Australia – China and Common Sense”
Australia has been built not just on the contribution of migrants, but on foreign investment.
Every major phase of Australia’s industrial and economic development has been driven by foreign capital used to supplement savings by Australians. Chinese investment in mineral development is the next chapter in this story.
With the current global economic downturn and the country effectively in recession, the best way out is to encourage investment and make the best use of productive resources. Turning away foreign capital in the current climate is nonsensical.
It is in Australia’s national interest to welcome Chinese investment and to make the best use of productive resources in tough economic times.
This report reviews the importance and history of foreign investment in Australia and examines the importance to both Australia and China of the Chinalco investment in Rio Tinto proceeding.
Read the full report here.
Protectionism And Our Forests
An opinion piece by ITS Global Principal Alan Oxley featured in Forbes:
Good intentions don't automatically lead to good results, and protecting the environment is no exception. In spite of pledges made to reject protectionist trade restrictions at the G-20 summit just a few weeks ago, several Western nations are trying to enact trade bans on timber and forest products in the name of environmental protection. Read the full article here.
Supporting Australia’s free trade agreements with North Asian partners
ITS Global has established Asia Business Focus (www.asiabusinessfocus.com), a business coalition which seeks a positive result for Australian business from the Australia-China, Australia-Japan and Australia-South Korea FTAs. The group's activities include advocacy, research and representation. Asia Business Focus replaced the China Business Focus group in February 2009.
Inconsistencies in the treatment of foreign investment in Australia’s FTAs
Kristen Bondietti prepared a paper for the Institute of Public Affairs, published by the Australian APEC Study Centre, on the inconsistent treatment of foreign investment in Australia’s five bilateral free trade agreements; New Zealand (CER), Thailand, Singapore, Chile and the United States. The paper will be forthcoming in a book.
Independent peer review: Malaysia’s progress toward APEC’s trade and investment goals
Principal Consultant Kristen Bondietti and Mr Jaime Garcia from ConsultAndes, Peru, recently completed an independent comprehensive report on Malaysia’s progress toward APEC’s trade and investment goals for the period 2005 - 2008. The report was prepared as part of the APEC Peer Review process, where APEC country Individual Action Plans (IAP) toward the APEC Bogor Goals are reviewed by independent experts and shared among APEC countries and the broader public. The report was presented at the APEC Senior Officials Meeting in Singapore in February.
PNG timber operator achieves independent legality verification
Saban Enterprises Limited became the first forestry company in Papua New Guinea to achieve third-party legality verification. Saban’s timber harvesting and sawmill operations were successfully audited by SGS – the world’s leading inspection and verification company – under its Timber Legality & Traceability Verification (TLTV) programme. The audit confirmed that Saban complies with relevant PNG laws and regulations, and that its products are not being mixed with products from non-verified forests. ITS Global provided technical support to the project, which was funded co-funded by the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO).
Foreign Direct Investment in Australia – the increasing cost of regulation
The debate over foreign investment in Australia by State Owned Enterprises and Sovereign Wealth Funds, particularly from China, has lead to adjustments to the Governments’ foreign investment controls. These are likely to further restrict investment and economic growth in Australia. The controls inherited by the Rudd Government already cost Australia at least $5.5 billion a year or 0.6 percent of GDP. Click here for a PDF version of the report. Click here for an MS Word version of the report.
Australia-Republic of Korea Free Trade Agreement Feasibility Study
ITS Global, in conjunction with the Korean Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) and the Centre of Policy Studies at Monash University, has recently completed the Economic Feasibility Study for the Australian Government on a possible Australia/Republic of Korea FTA. The study reveals an FTA could offer significant benefits for both Australia and the ROK. Click here for a copy of the executive summary of the study or refer to the DFAT website.
In the media: Emissions cuts must be realistic
An opinion piece by ITS Global principal Alan Oxley featured in The Australian newspaper:
WITH less than two years to implement an emissions trading system, a leading point of interest in the business community is how the Rudd Government will keep the economy competitive under the scheme, as the aim is to increase the cost of energy. Read the full commentary here.
In the media: Europe climate threat is hot air
An opinion piece by ITS Global principal Alan Oxley featured in The Weekly Times newspaper:
JOSE Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Council and former prime minister of Portugal, dropped a policy bomb last week. He threatened climate trade war. Europe plans to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by a further 20 per cent by 2020. It would restrict imports from countries that did not do the same thing, specifically the US and China. He called the trade problem the nuclear bomb of the climate change debate. Read the full commentary here.
How Europe misread the Bali debate
The Bali climate change meeting showed most countries do not favour urgent action on climate. Yet in the lead-up to the meeting, the media was full of stories about the need for such action. Who got it wrong? Alan Oxley's opinion piece in the Bangkok Post points the finger at the EU. Read the full article here.
In the media: Alan Oxley at VicForests
ITS Global Principal Alan Oxley's speech at the VicForests symposium was reported in The Age newspaper. Agribusiness reporter Phillip Hopkins quoted on Oxley's views on how an ALP government should respond to forestry and climate change.
Read the full report here.
Windows on Wood
ITS Global Principal Alan Oxley was the keynote speaker at the VicForests Symposium. Mr Oxley delivered a speech on the growth potential of the forestry industry in a policy environment dominated by climate change.
Read the full speech here.
In the media: "The Greens simply don't want any forestry in Tasmania"
An opinion piece by ITS Global Senior Consultant Khalil Hegarty on the Crikey website:
The failure to stop the Bell Bay Pulp Mill is a big loss for the Greens – and wholly deserved. Bob Brown’s comments on the Mill's approval - "this environmentally evil company will continue to log 200,000 hectares"– show why. Note the verb "continue". The Mill's operation will not alter the existing rules on forestry in Tasmania – it will work within them. Read the full commentary here.
In the media: “Time to shelve the Doha Round”
An opinion piece by ITS Global principal Alan Oxley featured in The Weekly Times newspaper:
Pascal Lamy, the WTO’s Director General declared at the APEC Summit in Sydney that the Doha Round of trade negotiations can be completed this year. The APEC Leaders supported Lamy with a call to complete the Doha Round. This call will be as ineffective as the nearly identical calls made at four previous summits. Read the full article here
In the media: "Different tracks to the same goal"
An opinion piece by ITS Global Principal Alan Oxley in The Australian newspaper:
As the world's leading economies decided at the G8 summit in June that Kyoto has to be replaced, any Australian prime minister should have felt duty-bound to encourage APEC leaders to lead the effort to develop a fresh approach. No global solution can be effective without the support of APEC economies. Read the full article here.