Why Australia needs to become Asia’s innovation partner

If Australia wants to be a participant rather
 than a casualty of the Asian century, it
needs to engage with Asia’s huge and
growing capability and invest in innovation.

Asian economies are growing rapidly and the region is emerging as a major innovation hotspot. Some countries, such as Singapore, South Korea and Japan, now exceed Australia on the Global Innovation Index, and other smaller economies, although at a more formative stage, are catching up quickly. Science, technology and innovation have always been an important part of Australia’s trade and economic diplomacy presence in the region. An opportunity exists, however, for a new form of regional collaboration where the primary purpose is to co-develop innovation capacity. This recognises that Australia’s innovation capacity is not only held within its national borders but also includes the innovation capacity of other countries that it trades and collaborates with. Increasingly, those other countries are the emerging economies of Asia. The relationships created through this new form of collaboration will be critical to Australia’s ability to harness innovation for a prosperous and sustainable future.

Following in the footsteps of the twentieth century success of Japan, South Korea and Singapore, a new cluster of Asian countries, led by China and India, have achieved staggering levels of economic growth since the start of the 21st century. There are predictions that by 2050, three of the four biggest economies in the world will be Asian. China and India are tipped to take first and second place with the United States pushed into third place and Indonesia fourth. Countries like Vietnam and the Philippines are also rapidly moving up the rankings. Welcome to the Asian Century.

Read the story by Andy Hall and Jen Kelly from CSIROscope - “Why Australia needs to become Asia’s innovation partner.”