The Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) says Australia is seen as an important financial services market within the Asia-Pacific region, with growing interest from Chinese and Indian financial institutions.

Austrade’s National Manager Financial Services, Gary Johnston, made the observation in launch statement for the commission’s 2009 Australian Financial Services Benchmark Report.

Overseas interest in the Australian market is in addition to local financial institutions that are looking to extend their regional and global reach, Mr Johnston says.

The Austrade report, like the Australian Financial Markets Association’s 2009 report launched alongside it, are testament to Australia’s strong performance compared with other major financial centres following the global financial crisis.

Austrade CEO Peter O’Byrne says significant steps have been taken toward establishing a “strong mutual recognition framework” between financial regulatory authorities in Australia and overseas markets, leading to stronger relationships with markets in the US and China.

Finance and insurance contributed 8% to the nation’s real gross domestic value added during 2008/09, with total assets for Australia’s financial institutions exceeding $4.4 trillion – equivalent to four times gross domestic product.

Investment funds, including life offices, superannuation and other managed funds accounted for 26% of total financial sector assets at March this year, totalling $1.2 trillion.