Australia Seeks Foreign Investment

The federal government will pass a law offering new tax breaks to multinational companies who choose Australia for their regional headquarters, The Australian newspaper reported. Finance Minister Ralph Willis will be empowered to grant exemptions to the wholesale income tax on computer and computer-related equipment owned by multinationals for at least nine months. On an ad-hoc basis, Cathay Pacific Airlines and computer concern Data General Corp. received a similar tax break last year. Australia is billing itself as a low-cost business center in the Asia-Pacific region, in an effort to provide an alternative to high-cost Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore.