Cathy Yang, Host: A 25‑strong Australian business mission is in Manila this week, backing an economic strategy to 2040 and targeting Philippine education skills and youth economy jobs. Joining us now for more is Matt Thistlethwaite, Australia's Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Assistant Minister for Integration. Welcome to Manila and welcome to the program, Minister Matt.
Matt Thistlethwaite, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade: Good morning, Cathy, thanks for having me on the show.
Yang: All right, the ambassador, the good ambassador himself, was just in that same seat last October 30 on this very same program, and he did say that there's a lot going on between Australia and the Philippines, and a lot more potential that could be done. In your capacity and in your visit right now, which of the strand or strands in our bilateral cooperation are you pursuing?
Assistant Minister: Well, Cathy, I'm here leading a 25‑strong Australian delegation on transnational education, and these are some of Australia's best university and vocational education providers who are looking to deepen links with the Philippines and to partner with businesses here to provide Australian‑accredited courses and Australian qualifications for Filipinos. We think that that's one area where we can deepen relations between our two great nations. Australia has a strategy called 'Invested', where we're focusing on deepening our engagement with Southeast Asia, and the Philippines is at the top of that list.
Yang: Why pursue this now, though? Don't you want to wait for the de‑escalation, perhaps when things settle a little bit?
Assistant Minister: Well, we believe it's important that we continue our economic integration with Southeast Asia. Our economies have to continue to operate. People have to continue to go to work, and obviously the security and safety of Australians and people living in the Philippines is paramount. But we also believe that we need to continue that economic dialogue, and that's why these delegates are here this week to try and strike up those partnerships, to have those conversations that will hopefully lead to greater investment and greater job opportunities in our two great nations.
Yang: Which brings us back to what Ambassador Marc Innes‑Brown had spoken of last October, that regional security is really the cornerstone of economic prosperity. So, in that context, where does Australia stand now, given that the whole situation just complicates regional security here in the ASEAN, including the Philippines, which is defending a rules‑based order when it comes to the West Philippine Sea?
Assistant Minister: Yeah, we agree with the Philippines. We believe that upholding the rules‑based order is paramount to security and safety of citizens living in our countries. In this region, this is the most dynamic economic region in the world at the moment, and a nation like the Philippines is growing well. You've got a population that's improving its living standards and economic capacity, and Australia wants to be part of that. We want to be partnering with businesses that are operating here. We want to see greater people‑to‑people links and greater investment opportunities. And that's why I'm here. It's why our government's got a distinctive policy of looking to Southeast Asia for trade and investment opportunities. It's also the 80th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Australia and the Philippines, so it's a pretty important milestone. And of course, the Philippines is the chair this year of ASEAN. So, you've got a big agenda that we hope to work with you on.
Yang: Indeed. And the 25‑member delegation that you've brought with you is hoping to focus in and deepen those links in education services and skills. So, what sort of maybe a takeaway would you like, or maybe a deal or a project that you want to seal before you go back to Canberra?
Assistant Minister: Well, we would like to see partnerships between Australian educational institutions and Filipino education institutions so that we can deliver courses that are Australian‑grade with Australian qualifications here in the Philippines. We've got many, many Filipinos that travel to Australia each year to study, and that's very, very much welcome, but we also believe that we can create greater access to those educational opportunities for Filipinos if we can deliver some of those courses here. That reduces some of the costs and makes it more accessible. And the one great benefit that the Philippines has, I think, is a young population, and when we talk about your government's focus on artificial intelligence, on renewable energy, on maritime issues, you're going to need an educated workforce to deliver on those issues, and we believe that we can assist with that and partner with Philippine organisations to deliver that.
Yang: And the government as well, because you're meeting a couple of agencies and Department of Education. What sort of output are you hoping to gain from that government‑to‑government relationship as it relates to the community?
Assistant Minister: Yeah, yesterday, I met with Undersecretary Herrera‑Lim to discuss foreign affairs issues and Undersecretary Rodolfo to discuss trade issues. I was able to witness some fantastic initiatives that your trade department has undertaken in AI and providing platforms for exporters to look at free trade agreements and products associated with those free trade agreements. That's something that we're not doing in Australia yet. So, there are lessons that we can learn from what the Philippines is doing with AI advancements. And of course, in the education space, I'm meeting with representatives today to discuss greater integration. And we're a nation that is very proud of our education system, particularly our vocational training system, and we believe that we've got an offering that can provide a partnership with Filipino educational institutions to lift educational standards, to make it more accessible here in the Philippines.
Yang: Talk to us about that integration, because the key to this really is scaling it up and experiencing the bottlenecks in between that integration and scaling up. What do you think is that one bottleneck that needs to be resolved before we can actually bring forth a more expansive relationship?
Assistant Minister: Well, the Filipino government has said that they're happy to look at regulatory barriers to greater integration, some of the rules that you have around foreign investment. Obviously, we respect domestic policy settings that the Philippines has, but some of the delegates here are keen to try and see where we can work within those rules to provide partnerships. So, I've met, for instance, Open Learning Australia, which is an educational institution that provides online platforms where people don't even have to go into a university campus to access their courses. They've been very successful in Australia. They're looking to roll out that model here in the Philippines. So, they will provide the software and the licences, but a Philippines organisation will be able to deliver that model to Philippine students. So that's an area where we think we can get collaboration between an Australian educational institution and a Filipino one to deliver a better outcome for Filipinos.
Yang: What about the flip side in terms of maybe provision of visas, maybe even recognition for certifications? Are there any initiatives from the Australian Government side to improve on those?
Assistant Minister: Yes, there are. It's a big issue in Australia that we have a lot of people who have come to our country that can't get their skills recognised, and it's professional organisations and skilled bodies that we need to look at some of their practices to make sure that we're providing a better pipeline for people to have their skills recognised in Australia and to work. We often talk about someone who's got an overseas qualification as an engineer, as a nurse or a doctor that's driving a taxi or an Uber in Australia because they can't get their skills recognised, and that's a policy that we're putting in place to try and remove some of those barriers so we get that international skills recognition, that people can have their skills recognised and realise their economic potential in Australia.
Yang: Trade is another strand amongst the four strands. Two‑way trade saw a record last year, but still very much skewed and modest in favour of Australia. What sort of new opportunities are you seeing in the way of trade and the way global tariffs have played out in the space?
Assistant Minister: Well, our trading relationship is growing. It's nearly $12 billion worth of two‑way trade between Australia and the Philippines. Two hundred and fifty Australian companies are operating in the Philippines, including about 44,000 Filipinos. And I met with some of those businesses yesterday, like Macquarie, who are engaging in renewable energy projects, providing jobs here for Filipinos. And we've got a policy called "Invested". It's a roadmap for greater investment in Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines, and that's the roadmap that we're using. And I'm one of the economic ministers that has the responsibility of rolling out that roadmap, and that's why I'm here to deepen that engagement and to take up those opportunities.
Yang: Is there a lot more investment going into, say, green energy transition, or maybe even food security, given the conflicts that we're seeing overseas and in the Middle East?
Assistant Minister: Yeah, certainly, in the green energy transition. Both of our economies need to decarbonise. We've made international commitments to reduce our carbon emissions, and that's going to take some policy imperatives to achieve that. And I know that the Philippines Government is committed, as Australia is, to achieving those goals, and that's why it's heartening to see, to meet those Australian businesses that are investing here in the Philippines in renewable energy projects to provide jobs for Filipinos and to look to future industries. At the same time, we're getting Filipino businesses that are investing in renewable energy projects, some massive solar and battery projects in Australia that are employing Australians and certainly providing economic dividends for their home‑based Filipino companies as well.
Yang: We have a final point on our common affiliations, RCEP, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and the ASEAN‑Australia‑New Zealand Free Trade Agreement. What is that one thing that you think the Philippines can do as chair of ASEAN this year that would benefit both nations?
Assistant Minister: Maintain that commitment to multilateralism and open and fair trade. Obviously, the trading system over the last few years has been rocked by the US administration's tariffs. No country has been immune from that, but that underscores, we believe, the importance of multilateral trade and upholding the rules‑based order. Next week, I'll travel to Africa, to the World Trade Organization Ministerial, where that's a message that Australia will be sending, and the Philippines has a similar position to Australia of upholding that international rules‑based order. Late last year, the CPTPP participants agreed that the Philippines would be one of the next nations to begin the process of accession to the free trade agreement. So that's another example of the Philippines engaging multilaterally, upholding rules‑based order and promoting free and fair trade.
Yang: A lot more acronyms in that alphabet soup. Thank you so much, Minister, appreciate it.
Assistant Minister: Thanks Cathy.