THE Right Honourable Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Councillor Campbell Newman, said he was delighted to host the first official trade mission to the Middle East by an Australian Lord Mayor.
“This trade delegation of highly-respected businesses from Brisbane is here to actively investigate potential trade and investment opportunities with businesses throughout the region,” the Lord Mayor said.
The 15 businesses participating in this week’s trade delegation to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are committed to growing the emerging relationships and business contacts made during their visit.
The delegation has met with a number of industry leaders in Abu Dhabi and Manama this week and will continue the trade mission in Dubai until Monday (February 5).
While the main purpose of the visit is to explore mutually beneficial trade and investment opportunities between the two regions, the Lord Mayor said Brisbane offered extensive benefits for international investment, including:
• the fastest growing consumer market in Australia
• Australia’s fastest growing capital city port
• Australia’s fastest growing industrial, international trade and business precinct
• economic growth running at more than four per cent, which is well above the Australian average
• Australia’s 2nd largest airport for international visitors
• Australia’s largest municipality, and the third largest municipality in the world
• the second fastest growing region in the western world (after Phoenix, Arizona, USA)
• Three world-class universities
• an educated and highly skilled workforce - the number of graduates and post-graduate students is higher than the national average
• the largest medical research centre in the Southern Hemisphere (QIMR)
• the largest biotechnology research facility in Australia
• a rapidly growing hub of electronic games development
• an expanding film and television, post-production and animation industry
• with 1500 people moving to South East Queensland each week, Brisbane is recognised as the economic and employment hub of the region
“As the capital of the Australian State of Queensland and situated in the State’s rapidly growing south-east region, Brisbane has much to offer international business interests and we are also keen to explore business interests in the UAE and Bahrain,” he said.
Representatives participating in this mission come from Brisbane’s building and construction industry, the education sector, food and beverages sector, engineering disciplines, information and communications, technology and the environment sectors are participating in the mission.
The Lord Mayor said the hand-picked delegation was designed to foster and enhance long-term cultural and economic relationships with businesses in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Dubai, key emerging markets for Brisbane investment.
The Lord Mayor is also inviting a delegation of civic, commercial and cultural representatives to visit the 2007 Asia Pacific Cities Summit, which is being held in Brisbane, Australia, in September this year.
