Power of 8: BESydney’s new Global Ambassadors unveiled
Pictured L-R: The Premier of NSW, The Hon Chris Minns MP, Professor Jon Whittle, Professor Jennifer Westacott AO, Scientia Professor Toby Walsh, Mani Thiru, Professor Jason Kovacic, Sarah Liu, Distinguished Professor Larissa -Behrendt AO, Kylie Hargreaves and BESydney’s Lyn Lewis-Smith.
Premier of NSW Delivers Australia Oration
The Premier of NSW, The Hon Chris Minns MP, delivered the Australia Oration at Business Event Sydney’s 12th Global Ambassador dinner, sharing his vision for Sydney and NSW as BESydney invested eight new global ambassadors.
The eight global ambassadors were selected based on their purposeful work, outstanding leadership and commitment to Sydney:
- Distinguished Professor Larissa Behrendt AO, Laureate Fellow at the Jumbunna Institute at the University of Technology Sydney
- Kylie Hargreaves, Chair Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity
- Professor Jason Kovacic, Director & CEO, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute
- Sarah Liu, Founder & Managing Director TDC Global (The Dream Collective)
- Mani Thiru, Founder, DeepTech Ventures Australia
- Scientia Professor Toby Walsh, Professor of Artificial Intelligence, Department of Computer Science and Engineering University of NSW Sydney
- Professor Jennifer Westacott AO, Chancellor, Western Sydney University
- Professor Jon Whittle, Director of Australia’s national scientific research agency, CSIRO’s Data61
“Tourism is one of our biggest exports, driving more jobs for NSW locals, Premier Minns said. “Visitors spent more than $50 billion in NSW last year. That’s a record injection into our state’s economy.
“Hosting global meetings is an important way to attract tourists, who might come for a conference and then stay to relax in our beautiful state. I welcome and thank these ambassadors, from a range of industries, who will help bring events to Sydney.
Chair of the BESydney Board, Professor Mary O’Kane AC said, “Our Ambassadors are key to us securing major business events and top scientific conferences. As such, they play a pivotal role in powering the State’s knowledge economy”.
BESydney CEO, Lyn Lewis-Smith said, “The Ambassadors and those attending the dinner are our network that underpin BESydney’s success, they are the giants’ shoulders we stand upon – their success is what we take to the world.”
“We continue to see the greater impact business events contribute: knowledge sharing, foreign direct investment, talent attraction and global social impact. We thank our Ambassadors - the changemakers of Sydney and NSW - for their incredible work and achievements driving global change for the better.
“Our people, places and purpose are the things that make Sydney what it is today, they are also the things that uniquely position us to help shape what comes tomorrow for both local and global communities. We believe Sydney has the intellectual capital the world needs to meet global challenges. Our purpose is to bring the world to Sydney to find solutions and effect a ripple of change around the globe”.
The Hon John Graham Minister for Jobs and Tourism said, “Business events are a critical part of the visitor economy and Sydney is the capital of business events in Australia. The scale of the forward pipeline out to 2030 illustrates this perfectly: 115 business events delivering more than $562 million in direct expenditure and attracting 140,000 global delegates to Sydney and NSW.
“The BESydney Ambassadors announced tonight bring the network that will build on this pipeline and generate more economic activity. Business events will be an important focus in the Visitor Economy Strategy 2030 Review to be published later this year”.
Major Partner and venue International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney) hosted 380 members of the BESydney community, with journalist and broadcaster Kumi Taguchi as MC. Gadigal Elder Uncle Ray Davison provided a moving Welcome to Country accompanied by artist and composer William Barton.
Lewis-Smith thanked retiring ICC Sydney Chief Executive Geoff Donaghy for his impactful contribution to the business events industry, building and leading an incredible team to create a world-leading asset for the State’s visitor economy with a deep sense of place and connections with local community.
This year’s theme was ‘Change Starts Here’, a nod to BESydney’s Agenda for purposeful business events and its economic and social impact efforts for which the organisation has been globally awarded.
