Trade and investment
FTAs are vital to Australia's prosperity, helping boost economic growth and employment and delivering new opportunities to business. Australians also benefit from improved access to a wider range of competitively priced goods and services.
Australia's network of bilateral and regional FTAs has served Australian businesses and consumers well, supporting strong growth in trade over recent decades, particularly with partners in our region.
While our FTAs provide strong coverage of Australia's goods exports, some of our FTAs were negotiated more than 20-years ago. In that time, international trade and investment settings have changed significantly and Australian industry priorities and economic activity have shifted, with disciplines such as digital economy and services growing in prevalence. While FTAs such as SAFTA and AANZFTA have evolved and undergone reviews to reflect changes in international trade, there remains scope to upgrade and modernise our FTAs.
Southeast Asia FTA modernisation review
To ensure our FTAs remain fit for purpose, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is conducting a comprehensive review of our FTAs in Southeast Asia. The government has released the Terms of Reference to underpin the review of our FTAs in Southeast Asia.
Invested: Australia's Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040 highlights that Southeast Asia (as a bloc) is projected to become the world's fourth-largest economy by 2040, after the United States, China and India, with an expected compound annual growth rate of 4 per cent between 2022 and 2040. It recommended that Australia's Trade 2040 Taskforce, in collaboration with Southeast Asian partners, review the scope of existing Free Trade Agreements to determine priorities for agreement upgrade negotiations.
The review will identify gaps and opportunities to further strengthen trade and investment in Southeast Asian markets and examine if the rules and commitments in our FTAs remain relevant and fit-for-purpose.
The review will examine market access commitments to ensure they remain comprehensive and commercially meaningful for Australia and our Southeast Asian partners to maximise the benefits to our economies.
Views on how Australia can support accessions to regional FTAs with Southeast Asian economies, identify new FTA opportunities and examine whether Australia's agreements have kept pace with relevant international developments will be a focus of the review.
The department also welcomes views on progressive and emerging trade topics such as the green economy, digital economy and sustainable agriculture.
The department has begun consulting with trade exposed stakeholders across Australia and will continue to do so through 2025.
Call for public submissions on upgrading and modernising FTAs with Southeast Asia
To ensure our upgrade and modernisation priorities reflect the diverse views and needs of industry and the Australian community, the department is calling for submissions from trade exposed stakeholders. The submissions will inform the review of our FTA network in Southeast Asia.
Call for submissions to the Southeast Asia Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) modernisation review page has information on the process of submitting an application.
Southeast Asia FTAs Modernisation Grant Program
The government has committed funds for a grant program to support trade exposed peak industry bodies and representative organisations feed insights and sectoral priorities directly to government. The grant program will assist stakeholders undertake research and analysis to inform and make recommendations on Australia's network of FTAs in Southeast Asia to 2040.
Southeast Asia Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) Modernisation Grant Program page has information on the grant program, eligibility and how to apply.
Which countries does Australia have FTAs with?
Australia has 18 FTAs, seven of which include Southeast Asian economies.
More about free trade agreements
- The benefits of FTAs
- How to get free trade agreement tariff cuts
- Look up FTA tariffs and services market access – DFAT FTA Portal
- DFAT's role in FTA negotiations
Further information
For further information on the Southeast Asia FTA upgrade and modernisation agenda, contact: FTAModernisation@dfat.gov.au