AUSTRALIA - CHINA TRADE BREAKFAST FORUM

It was a pleasure to bring together such a distinguished group of leaders recently at Business Sydney's Australia–China Trade Forum, hosted by Baker McKenzie in partnership with Football Australia and National Foundation for Australia-China Relations.

Thank you to everyone who joined us, around 80 senior business, political and community leaders, for a thoughtful and engaging discussion on the Australia–China relationship, and the important role of people-to-people connections, community engagement and sport in building trust and long-term collaboration.

We were honoured to hear from Senator the Hon. Nita Green, Assistant Minister for Northern Australia, Tourism and Pacific Island Affairs, and The Hon. Anoulack Chanthivong MP, NSW Minister for Industry and Trade, Innovation, Science and Technology, Better Regulation and Fair Trading, Building and Corrections.

We also heard valuable perspectives from Martin Kugeler, Chief Executive Officer, Football Australia, and Gary Cowan, Chief Executive Officer, National Foundation for Australia–China Relations.

Our panel discussion featured Sally Sitou MP, Federal Member for Reid; Jason Yat-sen Li MP, Assistant Speaker, NSW Parliament and Member for Strathfield; Gary Cowan, CEO, National Foundation for Australia–China Relations; Mark Schwarzer OAM, former Socceroos goalkeeper; and Heather Garriock OLY, former Matilda and Executive Director Football & Deputy CEO, Football Australia, who expertly facilitated the conversation.

A special thank you to Sebastian Busa, Partner at Baker McKenzie, for the introductions, and to Dion Woo for delivering an entertaining vote of thanks.

These conversations matter and it’s through continued dialogue and collaboration that we strengthen relationships and unlock future opportunities.