Foreign Investment Review Board
Report 2001-2002

Main Points

2001-02 foreign investment proposals in summary

• Of the 4,520 proposals decided, 4,443 were approved (3,400 with conditions, mainly in the real estate sector) and 77 were rejected. There were 3,301 approvals (2,298 with conditions) and 46 rejections in 2000-01.
• There were 69 orders rejecting proposals, 7 orders to divest, and 76 interim orders extending the deliberation period for up to a further 90 Days.
• Approvals involved proposed investment (either alone or in partnership with Australians) of around $118 billion. This represented an 11 per cent increase on the previous year's approvals of $106.3 billion. Approvals do not necessarily mean investments proceed in either the time frames or the amounts proposed.
• The value of approvals increased in the services sector (excluding tourism) from $31.1 billion in 2000-01 to $49 billion in 2001-02. Approvals in the minerals exploration and development sector decreased from $23.7 billion to $19.1 billion and real estate increased from $12.7 billion to $14.3 billion.
• The United Kingdom was the largest source of proposed investment in Australia in 2001-02 considered under the Government's foreign investment policy, contributing $19.4 billion or 16.4 per cent. The United States and Singapore were the other major sources of proposed investment during 2001-02 accounting for around 15.8 per cent and 15.4 per cent of the total respectively.

International investment issues

• Australia concluded a Free Trade Agreement with Singapore in October 2002. The Singapore-Australia FTA is Australia's first FTA since the conclusion of the Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Agreement nearly twenty years ago.
• During the period, the Australian National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines increased the awareness of, and involvement with, the Guidelines through its bi-annual consultations with other government agencies, labour, business and other non-government organisations.
• The trend over the five years to 30 June 2002 shows that flows of Australian direct investment abroad have increased by 173 per cent, from $7.4 billion in 1997-98 to $20.3 billion in 2001-02. The flows of FDI into Australia increased by 125 per cent, from $10.3 billion to $23.2 billion over the same period.

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Preliminaries
Main Points
Chapter 1:		Foreign Investment Review Board
Chapter 2:		Foreign Investment Proposals
Chapter 3:		Overview of the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975
Chapter 4:		International Investment Issues and Australia's International Investment Position
Appendix A:		Summary of Australia's Foreign Investment Policy as 30 June 2002
Appendix B:		Legislation, Policy Statements and Publications
Appendix C:		Press Releases - 2001-2002
Appendix D:		Chronology of Policy Measures
Appendix E:		Foreign Aquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975
Appendix F:		Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Requlations 1989 and (Notices) Regulations
Appendix G:		OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
Appendix H:		Contact Details