UPDATE 1-Prepare for stronger Aussie dlr - Australia trade min

SINGAPORE Nov 10 (Reuters) - The strength of the Australian dollar AUD= reflects market views and the country's manufacturers should prepare for a stronger currency, Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean said on Tuesday. "Despite the dollar going up, manufacturing has improved ... They just have to learn to accommodate this sort of thing, going forward ... there's a need for hedging," Crean told reporters on the sidelines of an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation group (APEC) symposium. Crean said Australia is not looking at managing the exchange rate despite sharp gains in the currency.

Exports have improved despite the rising local dollar AUD=D4, which hovered near a 15-month high at $0.9323 on Tuesday.

The Aussie dollar has also been spurred by expectations of more interest rate increases in coming months.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) last week raised the cash rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 3.50 percent, tightening policy for the second straight month and setting it far apart from most other developed nations which are expected to keep rates at emergency lows for some time.

It also sharply upgraded forecasts of economic growth for next year to 3.25 percent, from 2.25 percent previously.

(Reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan; Writing by Bill Tarrant: Editing by Kim Coghill