IN THE ZONE - INDO PACIFIC AGRICULTURE Global agriculture investors are ready to embrace our northern potential AS our neighbours develop and their economies grow, so too does their appetite for high quality food.
Australian producers and exporters are well positioned to meet this growing demand from the rapidly growing middle classes in the Indo-Pacific region.
As leaders in agriculture, Australian producers have earned their best-in-class reputation for supplying food that is safe, clean and green. 
We have readily marketable food and beverage brands recognised for their quality the world over, and our exports into the Indo-Pacific remain competitively priced.
Our bulk commodity trade, which remains the biggest part of our agricultural trade, continues to underpin global food security.
The Turnbull government is focused on expanding Australia's role as an international supplier of agricultural products by removing trade barriers and developing Northern Australia. This will support the needs of millions in the Indo-Pacific region and create export opportunities to drive jobs and growth for Australians.
The Coalition's success in securing landmark free-trade agreements with the powerhouse North Asian economies of China, Japan and Korea has given Australian businesses unmatched access to these large consumer markets.
Tariffs on agricultural products are being cut or eliminated in most cases, and the results are now being realised. In their first year of operation, the free-trade agreements with Korea and Japan saw exports of beef, wine, cherries, macadamias, mangoes and some dairy products surge.
Signs from the first few months of Australia's free-trade agreement with China have been encouraging, with agricultural exports showing strong gains in products such as beef, lobster, abalone, mangoes, grapes, cherries and bottled wine.
With this preferential access, Australia is the ideal destination for global agricultural investors seeking to export into North Asia. A lot of that investment will flow into Northern Australia.
Located at the intersection of two great areas of economic and population growth, Asia and the tropics, Northern Australia offers untapped potential.
The north contains 17 million hectares of arable land and receives around 60 per cent of Australia's rainfall. But significant infrastructure challenges must be overcome to unlock the region's potential. The Coalition's white paper on Northern Australia unveiled a range of measures to facilitate that, including the creation of a $5"billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility.
Agribusinesses are already looking to the north. Project Sea Dragon is a $1.45bn greenfield project that will build a large-scale aquaculture operation producing around 120,000 tonnes of black tiger prawns. Another major greenfield investment under way is in the Ord region of Western Australia. Kimberley Agricultural Investments is investing up to $700 million to develop over 13,000ha of irrigated farmland.
The Coalition has broken down the door with our trifecta of FTAs, with the promise of more to come.
We're already moving to ratify and implement the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the most significant trade and investment agreement in more than two decades. TPP countries represent almost 40 per cent of global GDP and will eliminate 98 per cent of tariffs between the member nations.
Negotiations are also proceeding on the next large regional free-trade agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. The potential of RCEP is staggering.
It will bring together Australia, China, Japan, Korea, India, New Zealand and the 10 member states of ASEAN in a rules-based framework for trade and investment.
Earlier this year I announced the reactivation of negotiations towards a free-trade agreement with Indonesia. The Turnbull government is also placing a high priority on the conclusion of a meaningful Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreement with India.
And in the World Trade Organisation late last year, Australia helped secure a ground-breaking global deal to end $15bn worth of trade-distorting agricultural export subsidy entitlements.Steven Ciobo is the federal Trade and Investment Minister.