Company Name : SASY n SAVY PTY LTD Company Owner : SAMEA MAAKRUNIntroduction

Sasy n Savy Pty Ltd is an Australian managed company which is run by Samea Maakrun who is now a successful business woman in Australia. This company produces natural skin care product and well being that combines 100% natural Australian sources which includes plants, herbs and flower extracts. Moving on to a little bit background of the CEO, Samea Maakrun was an accountant and managed businesses for others. Sameas education background includes a Degree in Accounting and Economics, and MBA in International Business Financial Analysis. Then, 3 of the companies she was managing sent her to train women in business with the Department of State and Regional Development. Samea then realized that there were woman who needed guidance in different fields. After completing MBA and researching the Australian market for 3 years, she found that the Australian skincare field was unknown 16 years ago and found that there were lack of Aussie natural ingredients being used in treatments for skin, so they decided to provide good quality and beneficial Australian made products at a reasonable price, especially for women who seeks help. Sameas international business journey began in2000 with her products entered the Asian market before launching in Australia and China as her first platform followed by Hong Kong, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Japan. Furthermore, those products were also introduced into the luxury department stores and hotels in Hong Kong. It took 3 years before the products were introduced into the Australian market to pharmacies and drug stores. Then, Samea explored into spa services too because a lots of the five star hotels, such as Marriott,Intercontinental, Shangri-La, and Four Seasons, began to recognize Sasy n Savy. Since China was the first export market platform for Sasy n Savy, further explanations will be based on China.

Australian Government Incentives For Exports

The Australian Government has initiated some incentives for Australians who wish to export things out of Australia. This act encourages Australian Businesses to expand overseas. Now, let us come back to Sasy n Savy. In order to expand her business overseas, I am sure that Samea Maakrun has received helped from the government.

First and foremost, Export Market Development Grant (EMDG) is one of the incentives from the government for the exporters. From the database of EMDGs website, Sasy n Savy Pty Ltd is also one of the recipient of this grant. EMDG scheme is the Australian Government financial support agenda to help Australian Exporters to involve in International Trades. The scheme supports a large category of sectors and products, which includes the inbound tourism and the export of intellectual property and to well understand business opportunities outside Australia, which is Administered by Austrade. EMDG inspire small and medium sized Australian businesses to develop exports overseas by providing reimbursement up to 50% of eligible expenditure above $5,000 provided if the total expenses are at least $15,000 and an eligible applicant may receive up to 8 grants. A few things to make sure before applying for EMDG are that the business must have income not more than $50 million in the year of grant. They must also have spent at least $15,000 of entitled export expenses under the scheme except for the first time applicants can combine two years expenses when applying. Other than that, having a principal status for the export business is a must too. The business must have also promoted one of the exports of goods and services, inbound tourism, the exports of intellectual property and conferences or any events took place in Australia. Moreover, the products must also be one of the following: a good produced in Australia or a good produced outside Australia where Australia will derive an important net benefits from its sales overseas, all services except those who are not eligible under the EMDG Regulations, a tourism services including accommodations, transportations or tours, a conference or event took place in Australia, an intellectual property that ultimately produced in Australia, a trademark that was owned, assigned or pioneered in Australia or a knowledge that mainly resulted from efforts took place in Australia.After being eligible for the EMDG scheme, it is also important to know what are the expenditures which can be claimed. First of all, EMDG recipients like Sasy n Savy can claim for overseas representatives. Expenses of having an representative to promote our product from the country we export to can be claimed. As an example, Sasy n Savy can claim their expenses of having a representative in China to promote their skin care products. Secondly, expenses of consulting Marketing Consultants can be claimed too. If Sasy n Savy wish to consult them for export researches and marketing opportunities, the cost can be claimed. Thirdly, Marketing visits are also one of the eligible expenditures. Sasy n Savy may claim for the cost of travel during marketing visit which include airfares and departure tariffs and also an allowance of $300 per day to support accommodation and living costs. Communication expenses such as faxing and phone calls and providing free samples of their products promoting for export can also be claimed under EMDG. Other than that, Sasy n Savy can also claim the cost of joining international trade fairs or similar activities, outer costs of promotional materials such as website development, printing brochures and advertising, the cost of bringing over potential buyers from overseas to Australia for an eligible export promotion purpose, and registration of eligible intellectual property such as patents and trade marks.EMDG is a very helpful scheme by the Australian Government for every Australian exporters like Sasy n Savy as it encourages them to develop into overseas market and most importantly it reduces financial challenges in many businesses. As the EMDG scheme is under review, Sasy n Savy is happy to tell their experience under the scheme and to encourage its continuation and expansion. The review letter dated 19th March 2015 from Samea Maakrun to the EMDG review secretariat is attached.Other than the Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) Scheme, Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC) is another Australian Government incentive which might have helped Sasy n Savy Pty Ltd. By means of EFIC, the Government allocates insurance and financial support to help Australian exporters to get rid of financial problems when exporting overseas. As the Governments export credit agency, EFIC helps export business to start successfully by working directly with exporters and their banks to issue loans and guarantees, bonds and insurance products that caters the needs of exporters. Small and medium enterprises (SME) that are exporters, Australian companies looking to expand their business operations overseas to better service their clients, Australian companies in an export supply chain, and Australian companies operating emerging and frontier markets are helped by EFIC in partnership with the banks to provide financial solution.In this case, Sasy n Savy Pty Ltd falls in the category of SME that are exporters. However, there are no proofs that Sasy n Savy Pty Ltd has received help from EFIC, but it is suggested that EFIC can also be a good support for Sasy n Savy in the future if they wish to expand to other countries.International Trade ControlsAs Sasy n Savy Pty Ltd has expanded to many countries, China is one of the largest platform for Sasy n Savy in Asian Market. Beauty and personal care continued its massive growth in China in 2013, due to rising disposable incomes and growing awareness of hygiene and personal appearance. Data from Euromonitor shows that total retail sales of skin care and make-up products in China reached RMB131.4 billion and RMB18.8 billion respectively in 2013 (Consumer products to China).There are a number of factors in the consumer product market in China that influence the opportunities available to Australian exporters such as Sasy n Savy Pty Ltd. First of all, Australia is recognized by local consumers as having a cleaner and greener environment with better quality products and brands. Food and skincare product safety is the main concern of Chinese consumers. As a consequent to this, there are increasing demands for skincare products with multi purposes such as moisturizing, anti-ageing and whitening features. Additionally, Chinas Ministry of Finance announced that from 1st January 2012 onwards, tariffs on 730 categories of items in which these products are categorized will be lowered to an average of 4.4 %. Tax on imported skin care products are now at 5 % , 1.5 % lesser from the previous level of 6.5 %(Source: Chinas Cosmetics Market 2011,Li & Fung Research Centre, February 2012)(Consumer products to China).The step is taken to increase imports and reduce countrys high inflation rate. China has importantly reformed its trade policies, reduced tariff barriers and generally obeying to the international standard practices after participating World Trade Organization (WTO). Tariff is one type of the trade controls. Importing and exporting to china involves 3 types of taxes which includes Value-Added Taxes (VAT) for imported goods, Consumption Taxes for imported goods and custom duties. In order to import Sasy n Savy products, Chinese consumers are required to pay these taxes. Based on the indicative tariffs set on personal care, cosmetics and apparel items, for skin care items such as toners and moisturizers, 5 % of duty tax and 17 % of VAT are payable. For hair care items such as shampoo and conditioner, 6.5 % duty tax and 17 % of VAT are payable. Then, for essential oils, 20 % of duty tax and 17 % of VAT are payable (Consumer products to China).Free Trade AgreementThe China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) has been concluded on the 17th of November 2014. Australia is one of only a handful of developed countries to have concluded an FTA with China, the worlds second-largest economy. On entry into force, ChAFTA will provide Australian businesses with significant advantages over international competitors . Some of the key outcomes which benefit Sasy n Savy Pty Ltd are, 95 % of Australias product exports to China will become duty-free on full implementation of the Agreement. In 2013 to 2014, Australia have exported over $90 billion worth of resources, energy and manufactured products to China. On enforcement of the Agreement, most of Chinas imports of these exported products from Australia will enter duty free, with rest of the tariffs removed within four years. After full implementation of the Agreement, 99.9 % of Australias resources, energy and manufacturing exports will enjoy duty free on entry into China (Key Outcomes of China-Australia FTA). Regulatory barriers such as those in legal and financial services are also removed. Most Importantly, this Free Trade Agreement helps Sasy n Savy because, with the removal of import tariffs from Australia, Chinese consumers can enjoy lowered price for the products and this will increase the demand for the products which consequently increases the production rate of Sasy n Savy Pty Ltd and encourages them to increase the number of exports to that country.

Conclusion

Sasy n Savy Pty Ltd is a company which produces natural skin care product and well being that combines 100% natural Australian sources which includes plants, herbs and flower extracts. The CEO of the company, Samea Maakrun is one of the successful business woman in Australia. China was her first platform to launch her products which ultimately increases the chances of expanding her business overseas. Anyway, without the help of the Government, it would not turn out to be success because the government has initiated a few initiatives such as EMDG to help reduce financial burden for Australian exporters like Sasy n Savy. Moreover, there are some tariffs which the business needs to go through but with the help of China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, most of the tariffs were eliminated.

References

1. Consumer products to China (personal care, fashion), Austrade, viewed 01 May 2015, .

2. Key Outcomes of China-Australia FTA, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, viewed 01 May 2015, < http://dfat.gov.au/trade/agreements/chafta/fact-sheets/Pages/key-outcomes.aspx>.