27 May 2009

Global economists: emigrating to Australia will place you in the most resilient economy

A world-wide survey has found that Australia has been voted the best place for business during the economic downturn, meaning that all those emigrating to Australia will benefit from greater investment security and a stronger economy during the recessionary and recovery period.

This year, the government restricted the Australian skilled migration program so that fewer people are emigrating to Australia during the recession.  Despite this, the program remains at significantly high levels, with 108,100 places for skilled migration to Australia, and the government has sufficient reasons for doing so.

While other countries such as the UK are deeply entrenched in the recession, Australia seems to be fairing well and are even tipped to come out stronger than before.  The Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, has seen the value in maintaining the Australian skilled migration program at high enough levels so that the labour and the skilled workforce are there to support the economy when it begins to turn around. 

According to The Australian, a survey of 7,500 international business people from 24 nations has put Australia as the number one country to ride out the recession best, with one out of five saying that it is the leading economy at the moment.

The Servcorp International Business Confidence Survey was conducted last month, and showed that the Asia-Pacific region was serving well in the crisis, with China coming in at third place and Singapore and India at a tied-third.  The US came in at 13th while England was placed at 18th.

Servcorp executive director Taine Moufarrige said that those living in Australia should be relishing their economic security, as should those emigrating to Australia, who would also benefit from its expected growth when the recession starts to lift.

"When looking at the key indicators, our banks are strong; our property prices have not crashed like they have in the US and the UK; although resource prices have gone down there is still a big demand for our resources; and unemployment, although it is picking up, we have not seen the big drop like we have seen everywhere else," he said.

"So I think people just look at Australia, see how far away it is, see our institutions are strong, see our interest rates have not dropped as far as everywhere else and think that it is probably one of the least-affected places in the recession."

Mr Moufarrige also said that the Australian media needs to stop spreading a message of doom and gloom to Australian businesses, as that is not the reality of the situation and they need to hear what will give them economic confidence in order to bounce back.

"What the survey reveals is that despite the global economy giving the world a hard knock, Australian businesses remain in good shape and should emerge from the global economic crisis even stronger than before," Mr Moufarrige said.

So while the Australian skilled migration is keeping its doors ajar to the world, it stands to reason that emigrating to Australia would remain high on the agenda for people looking to escape the more instable economies of Europe, Japan and the US. 

The government is targeting certain professions to emigrate to Australia, including those in the healthcare, IT and engineering industries.  If you have a job offer in Australia, or a state or territorial government is willing to sponsor your Australian visa application, or you have a profession listed on the Critical Skills List (CSL) then your Australian visa application for skilled migration will be prioritised by the government for processing.

To find out if you are eligible for skilled migration to Australia, take the free online assessment or have a registered migration agent call you back to discuss your options for emigrating to Australia.

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The Australian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people with emigrating to Australia.