Australia needs to be more pro-active in exporting its financial services industry strengths overseas, assistant treasurer Nick Sherry told an audience at an Investment and Financial Services Association (IFSA) lunch last week.
He said Australia needed to build better relationships with Asia, particularly Indonesia. Sherry told the audience that there aren't very many examples of domestic financial services businesses operating out of Asia.
Sherry also said the way sovereign wealth funds were taxed was a key priority for the government. Sherry said it was important that taxation maintained a flow of investment into the funds.
"It's very important given our financial and economic environment that Australia maintains an attractiveness and flow of capital," he said.
Sherry will visit Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in April to look into the promotion of Islamic banking and finance in Australia.
The Rudd Labor government plans to bring back certainty to the financial services industry by repealing 100 provisions on income tax laws.
