SYDNEY, March 11 (Xinhua) -- A new report delivered by the University of Sydney Business School and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has shown the unique role Asian businesses play in expanding Australia's business links in Asia.
The "Asian Business in Australia Research Report" released on Thursday, compiled the results of surveys of 72 Asian Australian businesses across Australia.
It found that over half of the businesses had foreign suppliers, and 29 percent had partnerships in research and development with overseas organizations.
"A new generation of Asian-Australian entrepreneurs are looking for opportunities in their ancestral countries and pioneering transnational collaboration in areas such as manufacturing, digitalization and e-commerce," read the report.
The report noted that overall Australia is more integrated with Asian economies, mainly China, Japan, India and South Korea, and that Asian businesses had better capacity to engage these markets.
A total of 44 percent of the businesses included in the report said they increased their number of employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared with just 10 percent nationally, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The report also found that Asian-owned businesses had more resilient supply chains during the pandemic, as they were able to quickly diversify suppliers.
One third of respondents reported increasing the number of suppliers or changing to suppliers from other countries to avoid shortages in the pandemic.
Dr. Sandy Chong, founder of Verity Consulting in the Australian state of Queensland, said businesses need to understand the Asia-Pacific region to succeed in Australia.
"I think trade and education are pathways to peace and prosperity, particularly trade. The need for people to understand cultures, demographics, and languages of others are essential," said Chong. ■