City of Melbourne welcomes major delegation of smart city leaders from India

THE City of Melbourne welcomed the largest delegation of smart city commissioners and executives that India has sent offshore, with 25 influential leaders arriving in Melbourne last week.

Prosperous City portfolio chair, Councillor Kevin Louey said this was testament to Melbourne’s industry capabilities in liveability and smart city initiatives.

The delegation comprised senior officials from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, South Delhi Municipal Corporation, New Delhi Municipal Council as well as representatives from key Indian companies.

Cr Louey said the program was envisaged to provide a world stage to local business to showcase Melbourne's industry leadership across urban design and development, water and waste practices and smart city initiatives.

“We look forward to creating lasting relationships with these organisations in India and having the opportunity to showcase our city’s global standing in these areas," Cr Louey said.

“The four-day mission will consist of City of Melbourne and State Government briefings and site visits, private sector networking and business matching sessions,” he said.

"The purpose of these missions is to create and close export opportunities for local businesses, build new relationships and leverage the City of Melbourne’s strong network of business and government connections to enable trade and investment.

“We continue to work closely with local business to create connections in India, and create better access for our local business into the significant opportunity that India offers Australia,” added Cr Louey.

The inbound visit from India is part of its ‘100 Smart Cities’ initiative, which provides 100 cities in India with funding to transform the country by fostering more sustainable and inclusive development, a clean environment and the applying of smart solutions.

The City of Melbourne worked in close partnership with Austrade and the Victorian Government to establish this mission.

The City of Melbourne has hosted two previous inbound missions in 2015 and 2016 and led an outbound mission to India in 2017, which significantly strengthened Melbourne’s partnership with India.

For more information on the city’s key international partnerships, visit the City of Melbourne website.

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