In April this year, AFOPA responded to an invitation by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs to comment as part of the Government’s feasibility study on strengthening trade and investment with Israel.
As an export destination for Australian merchandise, Israel is a small, virtually insignificant, market. Moreover, prospects for any attractive expansion in the size of the Israeli market for Australian products are limited, if not risky for Australian business. Such an expectation is unlikely to be improved by the negotiation of a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
In this scenario, any Australian public service and other resources engaged to work on the development of an FTA with Israel would be misdirected, if not wasted. Far better returns to Australian business would be earned by such resources being devoted to the development and negotiation of trade agreements with other, more promising countries.