Australia's Telstra To Expand Ties With Asia: CEO

SYDNEY -(Dow Jones)- Australia's Telstra will continue to look at opportunities to expand its ties with Asia, Chief Executive Solomon Trujillo said Friday.

Speaking at a conference in Los Angeles, Trujillo, a U.S. telecoms veteran said the company already has a presence in Asia, with assets including Hong Kong mobile group CSL and undersea cable venture Reach.

"Telstra is supporting the Beijing Olympic Committee using expertise gained as the telecommunications provider to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games," he added.

"We will continue to explore and secure opportunities to deepen these regional ties as we move forward," Trujillo said in a broad ranging speech, focussing on Australia's role in the Asian region.

Trujillo, who joined Telstra on July 1, 2005, noted that the Australia-China Free Trade Agreement currently under negotiation gives both countries benefits.

"But FTA negotiations with China also provide an opportunity to remove institutional and legal barriers to growth. Prominent among these is the issue of free trade in services, including financial, legal, and telecommunications services," he said.

"Greater openness in these areas would place the Australian-Chinese trading relationship on a more stable and balanced footing in the longer term. This is especially important for Australia because a more diversified 'portfolio' would help insulate us from the 'boom-bust' cycle of the commodities sector," said Trujillo.

"Increased trade in services would also advance knowledge transfer and interchange. It is one thing to deliver a finished product on our neighbor's doorstep; it is quite another to work together with a local partner to provide a new telecommunications service," he said.

-By Lyndal McFarland, Dow Jones Newswires;
61-2-8235-2957; lyndal.mcfarland@dowjones.com
-Edited by Paul Dekkers

(END) Dow Jones Newswires "

Posted to the site on 10th March 2006