Canberra is backing new finance, business envoys and trade missions to lift Australian investment in Southeast Asia as China still dominates the nation’s export earnings.
Australia is sharpening its commercial focus on the countries to its north betting that deeper trade and investment ties with Southeast Asia can help spread risk in an economy still heavily exposed to China.
China remains Australia’s largest two way trading partner. In 2024, it accounted for about a quarter of Australia’s goods and services trade with the world and about 30% of Australia’s global goods and services exports.
Trade with ASEAN has long been substantial but underplayed in public debate. Government trade data puts Australia’s two way goods and services trade with ASEAN at about $193 billion in 2023-24 around 15% of the national total.
The government current push is anchored in Invested to Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, a framework that aims to shift Australia from being an occasional exporter to a regular and long term commercial presence in the region.
Money and muscle behind the push
The centrepiece is a $2 billion Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility which is managed by Export Finance Australia offering loans, guarantees, equity and insurance to support projects that expand Australian trade and investment with an emphasis on clean energy and infrastructure.
This facility was announced as part of a package worth more than $500 million unveiled at the 2024 ASEAN Australia Special Summit in Melbourne.
The broader bundle included an extra $140 million for infrastructure partnerships as new technology landing pads in Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City expanded business visitor visa settings and deal teams in Singapore, Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City to help identify investable opportunities.
To pull more companies into the effort, the government also appointed 10 senior private sector business champions across the region and each tasked with building commercial links in a specific market.
In December 2024, Australia approved a $75 million equity investment in Singapore Financing Asia’s Transition Partnership initiative described by Export Finance Australia as the first investment under the new facility.
The government announced investments of $175 million in IFM Investors Asia Pacific Debt Fund and US$50 million in a Southeast Asia public private partnership fund established by Plenary both channelled through the same facility.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement that “These investments will boost exports and supply chains that will help grow jobs back home.”
The push is not limited to finance but education is being treated as part of Australia’s commercial footprint with Albanese highlighting Monash University plan to partner with The Exchange TRX in Kuala Lumpur to deliver a $1 billion campus.
The aim is to build resilience without pretending China can be replaced. The pitch is that Southeast Asia’s scale, proximity and growth offer a practical path to diversify revenues and supply chains while keeping established markets.
