Challenges facing the City of Melbourne in the new millennium

To date we have made significant progress in globalising Melbourne and, in particular, establishing our presence in the Asian business community, largely through our sister city relationships as well as through strengthened diplomatic relationships and consistent support of international visits.

In Melbourne we have now set up the BPC Board to oversee our involvement in this network. We will be working to identify strategic priorities for the next five years and want to involve key organisations in the promotion of business and commerce between Melbourne and other BPC cities.

Youth revolution in Melbourne

Looking to the long term, it is vital that we encourage our young people to make the contacts and connections that will serve them all their lives, inexorably linking our cities, and building networks that we can only dream about today.

It comes as a surprise to many people to learn that Melbourne is in fact undergoing a youth revolution. The expansion of domestic and international intakes by our university sector is turning Melbourne into a campus city. This is a highly visible and invigorating transformation, which adds to our already complex cultural mix. Indeed, strengthening links with the countries of Asia has been a cornerstone of the city's strategy to secure Melbourne's combined growth and prosperity into the next century.

This policy not only recognises our close proximity to one of the world's most populous and fastest growing regions in the world - and the fact that Asia is already Victoria's largest trading partner. It is also important because of Melbourne's rich cultural diversity, our racial harmony and the city's large Asian community, which has grown substantially in the past two decades.

As neighbours we are well placed to work closely with the cities and countries in Asia. We already know that half Victoria's exports goes to Asian countries, the key recipients being Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore. And we import more than we export to Asia, to the value of about $10 billion a year.

Vigorous business environment

Melbourne is in the marketplace for new investment, for business and for the wealth and prosperity this brings in its wake. We are well aware that a vigorous local business environment is a precondition for international positioning.

Because we can see that more people want to live and work in the city we have taken a number of steps to facilitate this process. We have set up the Business Development Fund and earmarked grants for projects like our two business incubators, to encourage more commercial enterprise in the city.

Working with business organisations we have followed the example set by our landmark Postcode 3000 programme, with a Business 3000 scheme, to help match small firms with suitable, affordable accommodation options in the central city.

Our strong retail core is another major asset for Melbourne, which continues to gather strength. The city will continue to develop around this retail core, which will be fed by the growing number of residents, workers and visitors attracted into the city.

We now recognise that we live in a global village and we must compete with other cities for investment and business if we are going to secure our future and stimulate ongoing employment and prosperity. I believe we can be optimistic about our city of the future, as more people discover the secret to our success - the unique lifestyle Melbourne has to offer.