Australia (AUFAXCRP), seeking to ease concerns about foreign investment in the nation’s agricultural assets, will conduct more surveys into overseas sales to improve transparency, Assistant Treasurer Mark Arbib said.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics will collect data on foreign investment every two years, Arbib said in a statement today as the government released guidance on factors it considers in assessing overseas applications.

“Australians can be confident that we have a strong and robust system in place to protect the national interest while also supporting the economy and jobs,” Arbib said. “The government applies a rigorous national interest test to all foreign investment applications.”

The report comes amid concern that overseas buyers, trying to secure supply to meet surging demand for food, may boost purchases of agricultural assets in a nation set to be the world’s second-largest wheat exporter. About 89 percent of Australia’s agricultural land and about 99 percent of agricultural businesses are entirely Australian owned, according to the statistics bureau.

The government typically considers the effect of an investment proposal on the quality and availability of Australia’s agricultural resources, land access and use, production, employment and the nation’s capacity to remain a reliable supplier, according to today’s statement.
 

Bloomberg