By Gred Ansley
CANBERRA - Migrants entering Australia under its business skills programme have boosted the nation's exports by almost $A350 million over the past three years, according to a Government report released this week.
Two-thirds of the new enterprises created by migrants in the 1995-1996 business intake are now exporting, adding to benefits gained from the introduction of new technologies and the replacement of good and services that would otherwise have been imported.
Business migrants have also created 7700 new jobs in the three years covered in a survey of the performance of the 1994-1995 and 1995-1996 intakes.
Most came from Hong Kong - which accounted for almost one-third of the total - Indonesia, Taiwan and South Africa.
The Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Philip Ruddock, said: "It's particularly pleasing to see that the two intakes of business migrants surveyed have not only established new businesses, but have developed new links with international markets, particularly our important trade partner of South-east Asia."
The survey found that 76 per cent of the 905 business migrants who entered Australia in 1995-1996 had set up new enterprises, 21 per cent were preparing to set up, and 3 per cent were no longer in business.
With every new business employing an average of 4.5 staff, 60 per cent had set up shop in wholesaling, 17 per cent in property and business services, 7 per cent in retail and 5 per cent in manufacturing.
Similar findings were reported from the previous year's intake, with 88 per cent establishing businesses in an almost identical sectoral spread, although South Africa displaced Indonesia as the second-largest source of business migration in 1994-1995.
Migrants boost Australia's coffers
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