Australasia Business Week promotes regional strengths to B20

Australia and New Zealand jointly showcased their economic strengths to international business visitors during this week’s B20 and G20 events in Sydney.

Australasia Business Week will ran alongside the B20 Australia Summit and the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance Summit, engaging delegates to promote trade and investment opportunities in both countries.

The program, hosted by Austrade in partnership with the New Zealand Government, included presentations, audio visual displays, information lounges staffed by trade officials and a welcome reception featuring regional food and wine.

A microsite providing further information about Australia and New Zealand is available at www.australasiabusinessweek.com

Austrade’s Senior Trade Commissioner Kym Hewett said Australasia Business Week was a chance to boost the region’s profile among global decision makers.

“Australia and New Zealand are open economies with AAA credit ratings, world-class innovation, highly skilled workers and a strategic geographic location close to Asia,” Mr Hewett said.

“Both offer a business-friendly environment that welcomes investment from abroad. There are 18,000 foreign companies registered in Australia alone, including 18 of the top-20 FT Global 500 companies, and eight of the top-ten Fortune 100” he said.

As president of the G20 in 2014, Australia officially invited New Zealand to join the Summit process this year as an observer.

Australasia Business Week grew out of an agreement between Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his New Zealand counterpart, Prime Minister John Key, to jointly promote both countries.

As well as Austrade, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has also contributed to staging Australasia Business Week, along with Tourism Australia, the Department of Industry, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Media Enquiries:
Vicki Miller, A/g Counsellor (Public Affairs) 0811 959 0304