Austrade media release
22 February 2010
Like Australia’s Winter Olympic medallists Torah Bright and Dale Begg-Smith who thrust Australia into the spotlight after succeeding on Vancouver’s slopes, Austrade’s Business Club Australia (BCA) will be doing the same off them.
The Business Club Australia (BCA) program was developed by the Australian Government’s trade and investment development agency (Austrade) to create strategic business activities around global sporting events. It’s the first time BCA has been conducted at a Winter Olympics.
Austrade’s Vancouver Post Manager, Kevin Lamb, said the program provides a unique opportunity for businesses to participate and increase awareness of the tremendous linkages and consequent business opportunities between Australia and Canada.
“Canada is a natural market for Australian companies, as no two countries are more similar in culture, business, government structure and policies,” Mr Lamb said.
“Sixteen Australian businesses have secured Games-related contracts with the Vancouver Organising Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC), some with the assistance of Austrade.
“Austrade and the British Columbia 2010 Commerce Centre Games Secretariat have also negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which enables both parties to collaborate on business networking events that are beneficial to both countries trade and investment objectives.
“The British Columbia's 2010 Commerce Centre has also modelled itself on Austrade's highly regarded Business Club Australia program, Mr Lamb said.
This relationship demonstrates the natural cross-Pacific relationship between Canada as a Pacific gateway and Australia as a platform for Canadian business to enter Asia.
Fire & Safety Systems’ Canada President, Brad Pickersgill, said when the Brisbane-based company – which provides fire protection systems worldwide to the mining, oil & gas, power generation and industrial industries – decided to establish a presence in Vancouver it was Austrade that assisted with setting up.
“Austrade has provided networking opportunities to help grow our presence in Canada, especially Vancouver, helping us to navigate our entry into Canada. They providing advice on legal, accounting and business services, making our transition much easier,” Mr Pickersgill said.
“Our participation in the Business Club Australia program will add more value for us because of the good networking opportunities and access to key business people it provides,” he said.
Austrade’s Business Club Australia Manager, Ashley White, said the program was established to leverage the business opportunities from the Sydney 2000 Olympics by holding business matching activities and networking functions around the games.
“Since then the program has been conducted around successive Rugby World Cups (2003 in Australia and 2007 in France); the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games; and most recently the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
“Over 36,000 businesspeople from around the world have participated in Business Club Australia which has helped deliver over $1.7 billion in business outcomes and long lasting business relationships,” Mr White said.
“BCA has proved so successful that other countries are now replicating the model - including Canada - and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has produced a case study on this program,” he said.
The BCA Vancouver 2010 program is sponsored by Macquarie, Rio Tinto Alcan, Worley Parsons and Poole’s Rock Wines.
ENDS
Media contact
Sarkis Khoury, Senior Media Adviser, 0414 401 072
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