Department ofAgriculture and Food

Western Australia – ChinaAgribusiness Cooperation ConferenceInvesting and Growing Together

9 – 11 April 2014

Supporting your success

Consulate General of the Peoples Republic of China in Perth

Welcome from the Hon Colin Barnett MEc MLA Premier of Western Australia

Western Australia’s agriculture sector has an international reputation for being a reliable supplier of food and agricultural produce. The State exports some 80 per cent of its total agricultural production.

The State’s available resources to expand and grow agriculture are yet to be optimised. Western Australia has the capacity and capability to be a food producer for the Chinese market and we want to work with China to expand production to help to meet the food supply and demand needs not just of China but the world.

In this respect, Western Australia’s agricultural sector is well placed for Chinese investors as we provide agri-food investment opportunities for high quality safe food. We can grow together through successful investments that take food production from ‘lab to paddock to plate’ – from research to production with world class bio-security and traceability – so that consumers in China can enjoy healthy, clean and quality food with ‘peace of mind.’

Western Australia welcomes foreign investment and this conference is an opportunity for potential Chinese investors and guests to learn about the State’s agricultural industry, and network to create the alliances that will enable us to ‘grow together’.

I welcome you to the Western Australia – China Agribusiness Cooperation Conference with the theme ‘Investing and growing together’ running from 9-11 April 2014, and I hope you enjoy the conference.

Colin Barnett MLA Premier of Western Australia

Western Australia – China Agribusiness Cooperation Conference

Welcome from Dr Huang Qinguo Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in PerthExploring the New Growth Point of China-Australia Economic and Trade Cooperation

Western Australia has vast territory and rich natural resources, with one-third of the country’s land, huge reserves of mineral resources. Almost all the Australian iron ore exported to China comes from Western Australia. Western Australia has become one of the most important destinations for mining investment in Australia.

The agricultural investment from China to Australia is still in its infancy. In recent years, a number of visionary entrepreneurs have taken the pace of agricultural investment to Australia. I believe that in the future Chinese investment in agriculture and animal husbandry will become a new growth point, which will bound the closer bilateral economic and trade cooperative relationship between our two countries.

At the end of 2012, the Australian Federal government released Australia in the Asian Century White Paper. In 2013, Chinese and Australian government released a Joint Australia-China Report on Strengthening Investment and Technological Cooperation in Agriculture to Enhance Food Security. These reveal the strong and sincere will of the Australian government to strengthen cooperation with China on agricultural business.

The Western Australia government seizes the opportunity and plan to organize a seminar on agricultural cooperation between China and Western Australia in April 2014 in Perth to promote agricultural business opportunities. I sincerely invite Chinese entrepreneurs to actively participate this seminar, find valuable business opportunities and good cooperation projects, while making friends to lay a solid foundation for the greater cooperation in the future between our two nations.

Finally, I wish the seminar a great success.

The Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA) in partnership with the Department of State Development, Department of Regional Development, the

Australia China Business Council (ACBC), InvestWest Agribusiness Alliance and the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Perth is presenting the first Western Australia – China Agribusiness Co-operation Conference.

The conference will be held at the State Reception Centre, Kings Park, Perth, Western Australia on Wednesday 9 to Friday 11 April 2014.

The conference will provide a forum for key stakeholders from China and Western Australia to network, gain knowledge and identify key trade and investment opportunities.

Investing and growing together

Investing and growing together

Investing and growing together

Western Australia – China Agribusiness Cooperation Conference

What is included in the Western Australia – China Agribusiness Conference:

• Opportunitytolistentokeystakeholdersinagriculturalindustry

• Tipsonforeigninvestmentrulesandregulationanddoingbusinessin Western Australia

• Specificprogramscoveringallaspectsofagriculture,includingwineand specialty foods, dairy and grains, beef and livestock

• Networkingeventstoenhancerelationships

This is a unique opportunity if you have interests in:

• InvestmentinWesternAustralianagriculture(seepages8to11fordetails)

• Supportinginternationaltradeanddevelopment,eitherasaprivateor a state owned enterprise

• Foodsafetyandsecurity• Agricultureandfoodtechnology• Agribusinessincludingfinancecompanies,industrygroups,

consulting firms

Investing and growing together

Venue: State Reception Centre, Kings Park, Perth Please note that simultaneous translation services in both English and

Mandarin will be supplied for the Conference Program.

Preliminary Program, Wednesday 9 April 201408:00 Registration 08:30 OpeningRemarks&WelcometoCountry Official Opening Address

The Hon. Colin Barnett MLA, Premier of Western Australia Address by Dr Huang Qinguo, Consul General of the People’s Republic of China

in Perth Address by leader of Chinese delegation ‘Future Agribusiness cooperation

between Australia and China’ 09:40 Global Market Trends in Agribusiness

NigelScott,GlobalHeadofAgribusiness,InternationalandInstitutional Banking,ANZSingapore

10:00 MorningTea&Networking10:30 Western Australia Agriculture & Food Production, Supply and Technology

Rob Delane, Director General Department of Agriculture and Food WA11:00 Investment in Agribusiness – China’s perspective

China Development Bank11:20 Chinese Investment in Western Australian Agriculture and Food

Panel of Speakers • ShanghaiZhongfuGroup • HeilongjiangFengAoAgricultural&AnimalHusbandryGroup • ZhejiangTianmaHoldingGroup/FerngroveWinery

12:05 Question & Answer Session12:15 Lunch&Networking13:15 InfrastructureProjectsinWARegions

Paul Rosair, Director General Department of Regional Development WA13:35 WA Agribusiness Investment Opportunities – Panel of Speakers

• Beef (Tony Hiscock, Western Australian Beef Council) • Sheep (Rob Egerton-Warburton, Sheep Industry Leadership Council) • Dairy (Ruth McGregor, Western Dairy) • Grain (Jon Slee, Grains Industry Association of WA) • Horticulture and Wine (Gavin Foord, Horticultue WA) • Fisheries (John Harrison, WA Fisheries Industry Council) )

14:40 Investment Structure and Regulations 15:00 Afternoon Tea & Networking15:30 Investment Models15:50 Young Entrepreneurs and the Future of Healthy Food

Tracy Jin Cui, Founder Australia China Young Professional Initiative16:05 Linking Agribusiness Opportunities

NathanBackhouse,RegionalDirectorWesternAustralianTradeandInvestmentOffice,Shanghai

16:15 Business Matchmaking Session 18:00 Pre-dinner Drinks18:30 Conference Dinner

Host: The Hon. Ken Baston Minister for Agriculture and Food WA22:30 Finish

Wednesday 9 April 2014

Western Australia – China Agribusiness Cooperation Conference

Wednesday 9 April 2014Site visitsThese field trips are at delegate’s own expense. Thursday 10 April 2014Industry specific program covering dairy; beef; sheep; grains; wines; fisheries

and gourmet foods

Customised program that provides technical and other information provided by industry experts relating to specific industry sectors.

Day Industrybriefingsandsitevisitstoregionsmeetthespecificneedsofdelegates

Friday 11 April 2014Site visits to the regions

Day Continuation of site visits to regions.

Evening Free

0 100 200

Kilometres

N

Indian Ocean

Kimberley

Pilbara

Mid West

Wheatbelt

Perth

Peel

SouthWest

GreatSouthern

Goldfields–Esperance

Gascoyne

Northam

Kalgoorlie

Esperance

Albany

Bunbury

ManjimupKatanning

Margaret River

Morawa

Meekatharra

Carnarvon

Geraldton

Karratha

Port Hedland

Broome

Derby

Kununurra

For further information on one and two day site visits download the Site Visits Brochure from the WA-China Conference webpage

Western Australia’s agriculture and food industry welcomes foreign investment and offers investors both a great business climate and the ability to produce safe and quality food.

Western Australia has an enviable ‘clean and green’ reputation—free from many insect and animal pests, plant and animal diseases, and weeds that are found elsewhere in the world.

Investment in Western Australian agriculture provides the investor with the ability to develop a dedicated supply chain, from production to product manufacture. This allows the investor to ensure continuity of supply and product quality.

Taste, freshness, nutritional value, but also traceability and safety, are all important components of today’s industry, linking Western Australian agriculture to importers and investors around the world.

Western Australia is poised to be a small food bowl for some of the world’s fastest growing economies. The Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia, is ready to help you capitalise on that opportunity. Some opportunities are as follows:

Why Western Australian Agriculture and Food?

There is availability of resources, including land for pasture-based dairy production or grain for pasture/feedlot based dairy production. Approvals to operate feedlots or processing facilities may be achieved within as little as 90 days.

As shown by the recent large increase in the world price of whole milk powder, resultingfromadroughtinNewZealand,there are advantages for an investor to have a secure, dedicated supply of products and a geographic spread of supply, which is provided by investment in Western Australia.

The high health status of the Western Australia dairy herd, strict biosecurity measures and stringent food safety controls, reduce the risks to supply that could arise from disease outbreaks or food safety concerns in other regions.

DairyWestern Australia’s dairy industry is an efficient producer of quality fresh milk and extended shelf life milk, which enjoy high consumer confidence worldwide. The industry is located in the rich pastures of the south-west of the state.

Western Australia offers many strategic advantages as a location for milk production and processing, including access to large amounts of fodder and a suitable land mass for dairy production. Production is directed towards higher margin niche products, such as value-added fresh and functional milk solids as well as UHT milk and whole milk powder.

Western Australia – China Agribusiness Cooperation Conference

Why Western Australian Agriculture and Food? BeefThe cattle industry in Western Australia covers most of the state, from the large herds of the pastoral stations in the north to the mixed enterprises scattered through the agricultural regions and the substantial pockets of intense beef production in the south-west and along the south coast.

Future cattle and beef exports are seen as the main means by which the industry can meet the specific food safety and quality requirements of overseas markets.

The most favoured outlook for higher profitability is through investment in product and market development, innovation, differentiation and boutique-style products. Such products range from dried beef products to flavoursome high-quality meat for luxury restaurants and hotels.

OpportunitiesexisttobuildupontheWestern Australian beef producers’ successful track record, high standards of risk management, reporting and transparency, and credibility with the market.

An integrated supply chain involving cattle bred in the north linked to finishing operations in the grain-growing areas and processed in a mid-sized export abattoir offers investors a proven value chain. This supply chain approach ensures an investor continuity of supply and specified product quality.

SheepWestern Australia is the largest exporter of live animals in the world. The flock of about 14 million sheep produces high-quality meat and some of the world’s finest wool.

Investment in Western Australia provides the investor with the ability to develop whole supply chains for sheep meat, live sheep and wool.

Western Australia also provides considerable support for sheep enterprises in other countries, including knowledge of advanced biotechnology, genetic management systems, and equipment such as tracking systems to ensure food safety.

Within Western Australia, business opportunities exist to establish large-scale farms producing a sheep bred for meat, with a profitable internal rate of return.

In the longer term, the possibility of more relaxed quotas for the importation of sheep and beef into China would help meet the increasing demand of China’s large population for lamb and beef.

FodderWestern Australia is the largest oaten hay producer in Australia, averaging 48 per cent ofAustralia’sproduction.Oatenhayishighlyregarded for its fibre content and palatability, which make it an ideal feed ration for ruminants.

Agronomic conditions in Western Australia are among the best in the world for producing oaten hay. Investment opportunities exist to grow fodder and develop supply chains to the market, including storage and packing operations for export.

Significant underground water resources—both artesian and sub-artesian—are expected to boost future opportunities within the feed industry.

GrainsThe grains industry is the largest agricultural sector in Western Australia and wheat is the dominant crop, accounting for up to 50% of Australia’s production. Wheat is a staple crop,growninwinter(MaytoNovember)onmany different soil types due to its relative tolerance of a range of conditions.

As well as offering a stable and safe business environment, Western Australia has the entire infrastructure to service grain exports, including modern shipping ports, excellent accreditation systems, excellent road and rail transport, and storage and handling facilities. Freedom from serious grain pests and diseases is a further encouragement to long-term investment.

While there is clearly potential for much of the industry to do well, trade is constrained by supply rather than demand, with many farming resources either untapped or capable of greater efficiency. Western Australia offers potential for significant investment in grain growing and infrastructure for safe and sustainable production.

Investors in the grains industry will not only be investing in an underlying asset (land), which is expected to appreciate in value over time, but they will also benefit from investment being spread geographically, thus diluting risk.

HorticultureFresh fruit and vegetables, full of vitamins and fibre, are an essential component of a healthy daily diet.

Western Australia produces a diverse range of top-quality horticultural products—from exotic tropical fruits in the north, to cherries and exclusive varieties of Western Australian developed apples in the south.

Besides local sales, much of this bounty is marketed to interstate and exported worldwide.

Western Australia’s horticultural export advantages include a reputation for reliability of supply and safe, quality-assured products counter-seasonal to the northern hemisphere.

Using advanced growing systems and a high degree of mechanisation, Western Australia leads in vegetable exports. Carrots, the top export crop, are available throughout the year. Seed potatoes, as well as fruit such as citrus, table grapes and stone fruit (plums), are also much in demand.

Investment in research into horticulture production processes is an important, even core, element in the success of export trade.Opportunitiesexistforexportgrowthof more perishable produce when new technologies are developed for shipping long distances and maintaining superior shelf life.

Western Australia – China Agribusiness Cooperation Conference

FisheriesHigh quality fisheries and pristine waters have given Western Australia an international reputation as a producer of premium quality seafood.

Covering one-third of the Australian continent and with 12,500 kilometres of coastline, Western Australia’s immaculate blue waters are home to a fantastic diversity of marine life covering both temperate and tropical climate regions.

Commercial fishing, including pearling and aquaculture, contributes around A$1 billion to the State’s economy each year, providing direct employment for 5000 Western Australians with many more in associated service industries.

Western Australia’s fisheries are major world suppliers of lobsters, prawns and pearls.

To further support the State’s steadily growing aquaculture industry, designated marine aquaculture zones are being established to provide ‘investment ready’ platforms for organisations planning to set up commercial aquaculture operations.

A 2,000 hectare Kimberley Aquaculture DevelopmentZoneisbeingestablishedat Cone Bay in the far north of Western Australia, and 3,000 hectares of ocean has been designated near the Abrolhos Islands for a Mid-West Aquaculture Development Zone.

Wine and Gourmet FoodExpecting the best is human nature. And Western Australia has built an international reputation as a gourmet region—with fine foods and premium wines.

Western Australia is very much focused on high-value, niche and branded food and beverage products to feed the world’s growing appetite for quality.

A relatively small producer in global terms, Western Australia is very well placed to offer investments in high-end premium products that are sustainably and ethically produced, of known provenance and exceptional quality.

Western Australia’s wines, particularly those from the Margaret River region, are increasingly earning an international reputation for high quality. In 2011/12, the largest customer was China, with sales worth almost AUD$18 million, from total Western Australian sales of $43.8 million.

Western Australia-China

Agribusiness Cooperation Conference

Registration Information All delegates will be required to register in one of the following ways

Australian delegates

Early Bird Registration Fee $550 including GST

Closes 31 January 2014

Standard Registration Fee $770 including GST

Includes:

Conference attendance all day Wednesday 9 April 2014

Conference Dinner

Printed program and registration materials

Register online by visiting www.agric.wa.gov.au/chinaconference and then select the ‘Register now’ link to complete the online registration form.

Invited International delegates

There is no registration fee payable for invited conference participants travelling from overseas.

Chinese Registration can be viewed online by visiting www.agric.wa.gov.au/chinaconference and then select the ‘Register now’ link to complete the online registration form.

Site visits

Site visits are at delegate’s own expense.

Delegates will be contacted directly for their tour preference.

To register visit Registration Conference and Site visits on WA-China Conference webpage

Travel Information

WelTravel is the official ground handling travel partner for the Western Australia-China Agribusiness Cooperation Conference with Chinese language communication facilities. To arrange accommodation, transfers as designated by the conference organiser view online by visiting http://weltravel.com/Agribusiness-Conference-2014/index.html

For further information please contactJan BrandliTelephone: +61 (0)8 9368 3203Email: janet.brandli@agric.wa.gov.au