The ACT Government has a 2050 Vision for Canberra, which is:
To be recognised as one of the world’s great innovation creative and art cities while remaining the world’s most liveable city.
To achieve this Vision the ACT Government works to more deeply connect Canberra and the Canberra Region with places, markets and sectors where the ACT has shared interests. A coordinated and focused approach to the way in which we engage internationally will enable us to further open and diversify our knowledge-based economy, be a genuine player in the global contest for investment and talented people, as well as promote the many reasons to visit, work in and study in our city.
The Commissioner for International Engagement, who leads the Office of International Engagement (OIE), is charged by the ACT Government with coordination and integration of the Government’s various international engagement activities, and therefore has oversight of the full spectrum of the ACT’s international engagement activities on a whole-of-Government basis.
The OIE therefore works not only closely with ACT Government Directorates and Agencies, but also with industry, peak bodies, diplomatic and other organisations to effectively orchestrate international engagement in order to fulfill the 2050 Vision.
The ACT Government has identified seven Key Capability Areas of our economy, which the Government actively supports in their growth, in part through international engagement. These are:
- Education and Research
- Tourism
- Defence and Cyber Security
- Renewable Energy
- ICT and e-Government
- Space and Spatial Science and
- Health and Sports Science
It has also identified 10 target-market countries and one region where it geographically concentrates its international engagement activity. These are:
- Singapore
- New Zealand
- China
- United States
- Japan
- India
- Indonesia
- Malaysia
- Thailand
- South Korea
The OIE builds international relationships and supports industry through 12 practical actions. They include:
- A targeted program of activities to grow our international reputation and prestige.
- Providing strategic leadership over the international inbound and outbound activities, including our city-to-city engagement.
- Defining and implementing a targeted program of ACT Government, Ministerial and industry trade missions to priority markets.
- Creating an inbound mission facilitation program that qualifies enquiries, proactively targets inbound opportunity and manages program development and delivery for inbound delegation visits.
- Building relationships and liaising with Canberra’s diplomatic community.
- Working with the Canberra Business Chamber to connect with International Business Councils and Chambers of Commerce to utilise their networks and market knowledge.
- Working with our Canberra Region partners to enhance export capability and capacity.
- Reinvigorating the ACT’s formal government-to-government relationships with a view to raise awareness of the economic opportunities within Canberra’s Key Capability Areas.
- Making recommendations for ACT representation (either at an official level or through the Canberra business and research community) at international conferences and trade shows relevant to Canberra’s Key Capability Areas.
- Leading engagement with the Australian Government including Austrade and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade network to promote ACT opportunities and leverage the incentives and support that are available.
- Ensuring that, at their core, all formal government-to-government arrangements support the growth and economic diversification of the ACT economy and align with the strategic intent of this strategy.
- Ensuring future city-to-city relationships align with ACT Government priorities, share a common economic vision and be proactively resourced and managed to realise economic and cultural benefits for the city.
Through its responsibility for managing formal sister-city relationships, the OIE engages with Nara, Japan; Beijing, China; and Wellington, New Zealand.
Contacting the OIE
Please email the OIE, at cie@act.gov.au with enquiries about participating in future outbound missions, inbound delegations, other events or related matters.
Other resources
ACT Government
- Canberra’s International Engagement Strategy (PDF 1.1MB)
- Confident & Business Ready – Building on our Strengths (PDF 3.8MB)
- Economic Development Division, CMTEDD, ACT Government
- Priority Investment Program (PIP)
- www.canberra.com.au
Other important organisations partnered with the ACT Government
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