Speaking to the annual dinner of the Australian Business Economists on Tuesday, Mr Lowe said Australia's high cost base, strong currency and the end of the resource-related infrastructure boom meant its future would increasingly be in high value-added goods and services.

"We need to be able to produce a range of goods and services very efficiently and/or be able to sell goods and services at a premium price because of their quality, their uniqueness or some other favourable attribute," he said.

"This is true right across the industry spectrum.

"It is true in advanced manufacturing. It is true in the tourism industry. It is true in agriculture.

"And it is true in the technology sector and in business and household services."

One of Australia's greatest assets in this regard was its people-to-people links with Asia, which was also, collectively, the country's most important trading partner, he said.

Eight per cent of the Australian population was born in east and south-east Asia or India, compared with about 3.5 per cent in the United States and 2 per cent or less in most European countries, he said.

The large number of Asian students and visitors to the country had also helped with the cultural and educational enmeshment critical to Australia's future.

"Taken together, this deep and growing people-to-people engagement is an increasingly important national asset," he said.

"It helps us better understand the most dynamic part of the global economy. It promotes goodwill and can help identify cross-border business opportunities."

Australia's growing population, partly as a result of immigration from Asia, was also essential to its growth, he said.

"In a decade's time, our population is forecast to be 17 per cent higher than it is today. That is an extra four million people."

"These people will require somewhere to live, work and to play.

"This population growth helps underpin the creation of new opportunities for businesses and for individuals."