PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Australian trade commission (Austrade) has highlighted an opportunity to partner with Latin American countries to fulfil the resources needs of China.

Speaking at the second day of the Paydirt Latin America Downunder conference, in Sydney, Austrade GM for growth and emerging markets Grame Barty said that a partnership with Latin America would be able to compete with other global regions looking to capitalise on the resources demand to be driven by an expected global explosion in urbanisation and industrialisation.

“While China will dominate Latin American economies for the next 15 years through natural resource super cycle demand, both Latin America and Australia have to look beyond the single market that is China and find new markets,” he said.

“Latin America and Australia, were they to better combine their skill sets and resources, could become league leaders in servicing the forthcoming population, industrialisation and new consumer explosion.”

Barty said that joint diversification and exploitation would better position a Latin American-Australian partnership to be competitive, boost royalty revenue flows, upgrade infrastructure, combine skills, and achieve environmental sustainability and strong community engagement and support.

“Economic development must also lead to a better quality of life. That’s what prosperity is. We have the capability to support Latin economies in that aspiration.”

He noted that Latin American countries specifically should find new markets with critical mass potential for their mineral wealth, increase their market share globally in the resources space, lift productivity, establish more substantial global supply chains and take more seriously the need for protection of intellectual property and company information.

Australia, for its part, should diversify, as many countries could now mine as well as Australia, and any chance to maintain market edge would require new resources markets, attitudes, systems, efficiencies and partners.

“Common histories and experiences have not previously drawn Australia and Latin America’s resources fraternities together,” Barty said.

“What is driving us together now is the perfect partner match, so we need to cement it as a true partnership that is innovative and delivers a measurable winning strategy that exploits the largest resources, at the lowest cost, and within an environment of low sovereign and community risk.”