A Message From AmCham's CEO

Article by Niels Marquardt, August 2017

Welcome to the AmCham CEO Message for August! The major news this month is the launch of our long-awaited study on the unsurpassed but under-appreciated two-way investment relationship between the USA and Australia, a joint initiative of AmCham and the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney (USSC).

It was one year ago that the AmCham Board of Directors gave its “green light” to initiate this study. Our Directors realised that the extraordinary dimensions of American investment into Australia were insufficiently understood by the Australian public. They decided that media, politicians, regulators, academics, and other key actors would all benefit greatly from a sharper, fresher insight into the critical role American foreign investment has played – and, hopefully, long will continue to play – in building a robust and prosperous Australian economy. And they were concerned about the policy implications of a continuing lack of appreciation for this investment and its many impacts. Since there was no “off-the-shelf” reference to which one could turn, we wanted to create one for use by the broader community here.

This study sets out in concrete terms, particularly through thirteen fascinating case studies, why this investment matters so much. AmCham is hopeful that this important work by Professor Richard Holden, Simon Jackman and Jared Mondschein at the USSC will help galvanise a vigorous, fact-based discussion of how American investment has indeed contributed to building Australia, and how it can continue to do so. Our main objective here is that Australia continue to offer the most welcoming possible climate for foreign investment so that the prosperity already created here can continue to grow, long into the future.

In other news, our annual trade mission program is right around the corner, and our delegations are filling up fast! Starting the week of October 9-13, our Infrastructure Mission with Austrade led by Ambassador Joe Hockey will take Australia’s leading infrastructure players to meet key decision makers in Chicago, Indianapolis, Washington DC and Richmond Virginia. Then on October 15-20, AmCham Chairman Maureen Dougherty – President of Boeing Australia & South Pacific – will lead our Defence & Aerospace Mission to meet with senior executives at some of the industry’s major companies, including Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Austal, Airbus, Huntington-Ingalls and more. Finally on October 29 – November 3, AmCham’s annual Innovation Mission will visit Boston and Silicon Valley, to discover the ‘secret sauce’ that has made companies like GE, Microsoft, Cisco, LinkedIn, Twitter and others so successful in the rapidly changing business landscape. There are still places available on each of these Missions, so I encourage you to contact us if you would like to be part of our delegations this year.

Upcoming events:

Perth: Closing the Gap: Future of Defence and Indigenous Employment, August 22

RBA Governor Dr Philip Lowe, September 21

Adelaide: Panel event on South Australia: The New Defence Technology Hub, August 31

Panel event on South Australia: The Changemaking State, September 21

Melbourne: Brendon Riley, Group Executive Global Enterprise and Services at Telstra, September 5

Darwin: Meet the Minister Luncheon with the Chief Minister, September 8

Brisbane: Innovation in a Lean Resource Environment Business Luncheon, September 22

Sydney: Andrew Hagger, Chief Customer Officer at NAB, October 18

 

New members in August 2017:

Since my last message, we are pleased to welcome the following new members on board: Foley & Associates Pty Ltd, SF Capital, Initio Pty Ltd, Content Productions, OSS Australia, RMS Tech, CanTeen, Vanguard Method Pty Ltd and JB & Partners Corporate Advisory. Please view our newest members here . If you are not already a member of AmCham, now is the time to join and increase your access to opportunity for 2017.

 

Until next time,

Niels Marquardt
[email protected]
Follow me on twitter: @CEO_AmChamAU

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