Council will consider a report at Tuesday’s council meeting that recommends the Mayor attend the annual UNESCO Creative Cities Network conference in Istanbul, Türkiye and other international delegate opportunities in September.
Geelong became a UNESCO City of Design in 2017 and one of Council’s obligations as designated secretariat is for the Mayor to attend the annual conference from 11-15 September.
The event aims to formulate new inter-city partnership initiatives, determine the network’s future strategy and operations, and build relationships with similar cities.
Mayor Trent Sullivan has been invited to present on Mayors’ Day about Geelong’s design history, projects and Clever and Creative ambitions, the outcomes of our UNESCO sub network meeting in March and to seek opportunities for collaboration.
The invitation extends to a post conference visit to the City of Kortrijk, Belgium from 16-18 September before a UNESCO City of Design Inspiration Tour in Dundee, Scotland from 19-21 September.
The City of Greater Geelong has received multiple invitations to visit Changwon in Korea, which is proposing a visit from 4-10 September to advance economic collaboration and mutual understanding.
This would include touring the Hanwha Aerospace facility, meetings with Korean baseball representatives and attendance at the World Smart City Expo.
The invitations represent our strong relationship with Changwon City after an agreement to collaborate on trade, education and cultural exchanges, to promote investment and employment opportunities was formalised last year when the Changwon Mayor visited Geelong.
Changwon is home to Hanwha Corporation and its subsidiary Hanwha Defence Australia (HDA), which will provide the Commonwealth Government’s $1-billion Land 8116 project to build and maintain military vehicles in Geelong. This project is expected to create at least 200 direct jobs and inject hundreds of millions of dollars into our economy.
The Korea-Australia baseball team has wrapped up its third Australia Baseball League season at the Geelong Baseball Centre earlier this year. The side has seen Geelong gain further hosting opportunities and international exposure, reaching millions of baseball fans in south-east Asia.
The City has received statements of support from the Geelong Manufacturing Council, Committee for Geelong, Geelong Chamber of Commerce and Geelong Gallery for the proposed delegation.
A City staff member is proposed to accompany Mayor Trent Sullivan. The cost of the international delegation opportunities is estimated to be approximately $25,000.
Acting Executive Director Customer, Community & Economy Bryce Prosser:
It’s an honour to be invited to these international opportunities and have the chance to promote and strengthen Geelong’s reputation on the world stage, form new relationships and maintain existing connections.
We’re already seeing tangible economic benefits for our community from our UNESCO designation and strong relationship with Korea in design, manufacturing, engineering, hospitality, accommodation and sporting sectors through delegation visits to Geelong and collaborations.
The City is exploring future international trade opportunities and we have interest from Korean companies interested in establishing here.
While the costs of the overseas delegation need to be weighed up, this investment has the potential to lead to further economic and social outcomes for our region.
The report states that there may be implications to Geelong’s UNESCO designation if the Mayor doesn’t fulfill the attendance requirement at the annual meeting. It says that there is potential reputational risk to the City’s relationship with Korea should a visit not go ahead.
The agenda for the council meeting on Tuesday 25 July can be found here.
