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STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Australian Minister for National Development

(Sir Reginald Swartz) arrived in Tokyo today for discussions on

the development of Australia's minerals and metal industries.

Sir Reginald was in Japan in 1970 and 1971 and his

current visit continues the series of regular exchanges of views

on mutual problems and aspirations.

Sir Reginald is a firm advocate of the necessity for

constant contact both in Australia and in Japan at all levels

of Government and industry. '  .  .

The recently formed Australia/Japan Ministerial Committee

was an excellent example of this he said.

Sir Reginald said one of the Committee's main terms of

reference was to consider means' of developing commercial and

economic relationships to the advantageÂ·and satisfaction of both

countries as part of the overall effort to strengthen the links

between the nations. '  .  Â·

Sir Reginald said some indication of the need for closer

co-operation in the resources field could be gained from a few

statistics of Australian exports to Japan in 1971; $25 million

worth of alumina, aluminium 45,143 tons,  black coal 16.2 million

tons, copper (concentrates, blister,  refined) 46,754 tons,  iron

ore 45 m'illion tons,  lead (concentrates) 17,539 tons, zinc

(concentrates) 109,602 tons (metal) 892 tons, manganese 533,566 tons,

mineral sands rutile 29,478 tons, zircon 89,316 tons and ilmenite

186,257 tons.  '

Sir Reginald said that his talks would be with the

Japanese.iron and steel companies and also with potential consumers

of Australia's uranium and natural gas,  trading companies,  banking

organisations and economic and mining associations.

Ã¢ÂÂ¢  v /2

Sir Reginald said that apart from its huge iron ore

deposits,  Australia was one of the world's principal producers of

lead, zinc and'silver. It had a substantial proportion of the

world's bauxite reserves,  was an important source of nickel and

manganese and had large reserves of coal.

Recent additional discoveries had made it clear that

Australia would be among the leading uranium producers in the world

said Sir Reginald.  Sir Reginald said he was confident that the

mutually beneficial trade between Australia and Japan in. raw a,nd

processed materials would continue to expand significantly despite

some problems associated with a temporary downturn in ÃÂ»/ÃÂ¿ rid trade

affecting the resource industries. Sir Reginald is accompanied

by the Permanent Head of his Department, Mr. Lloyd Bott.

7th JUNE, 1972

