Australian authorities are focusing on food and beverage, smart city technology, and health as key areas for business promotion in Macau and the Greater Bay Area (GBA), Australia’s Senior Trade Commissioner to Hong Kong Shannon Powell said during a luncheon event held by the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Macau (AustCham Macau) on Wednesday.
Ms. Powell, who also serves as Australia’s Deputy Consul General (Commercial) to Hong Kong and Macau, stressed that “the GBA presents great opportunities for Australian businesses” in her address at AustCham Macau’s Power Hour luncheon themed “Inspiring voices enlightening perspectives of GBA development.”
The Guangdong Hong Kong Macau Greater Bay Area comprises nine mainland cities in the Pearl River Delta and China’s two Special Administrative Regions (SARs), with a combined population of about 86 million and a GDP of over 13 trillion RMB (close to US$2 trillion), which is comparable in size to Italy’s, according to the latest official figures
She added that new successful business stories will be pivotal, stating, “because only with those stories can businesses thrive.”
Shannon Powell shared an optimistic outlook on current and future economic ties between Australia and China as a whole. After a period of increased tensions in the past few years, she mentioned that “things are stabilising,” with frequent high-level meetings and the gradual lifting of trade restrictions.
Under the new Labor party-led cabinet, the thawing of tensions has seen progress following the meeting between President Xi Jinping and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last November. Ministerial-level contacts continued this year with visits to Beijing by Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Trade Minister Don Farrell.
“The two markets are enormously complimentary. Australia produces much of what China needs, and Australia needs China’s investment in those things. It’s a complete cycle that we have,” Ms. Powell emphasised.
The Power Hour event also featured guest speakers Nicholas Tam, vice chair of the Royal Commonwealth Society (Hong Kong Branch), and Kenneth Wan, a Hong Kong lawyer who is the vice president of the Australian Chinese Association of Hong Kong.
Mr. Tam’s address focused on Hong Kong as “a super connector between the Commonwealth and China’s Greater Bay Area,” while Mr. Wan shared his experience as a legal professional holding a license to provide services in the GBA and the opportunities and framework for legal practitioners hailing from both SARs to practice in the neighbouring province.