SYDNEY, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- A training program was unveiled by the Queensland state government in Australia on Thursday, which is aimed at helping local small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) take their business to international markets.

The program will take place next week in the north east city of Cairns and is directed at businesses considering exporting, or in the initial stages of becoming an exporter.

"Queensland benefits enormously from having a thriving community of exporting companies, and their exports go on to support one fifth Queensland jobs," state member for Cairns Michael Healy said.

"Companies that export make good employers, and outperform non-exporters in terms of wages, staff development and employment conditions," he said.

"We also know these companies have better growth prospects on average, are more innovative, and adopt new technologies and management practices sooner than non-exporters" he added.

In the year leading up to May 2018, China was Queensland's largest export destination with roughly 17.4 billion U.S. dollars worth of goods, followed by Japan with roughly half that amount.

The workshops will focus on priority industry sectors of advanced manufacturing, biofuture, biomedical and METS (mining equipment, technology and services). Enditem