With regular medal-winning appearances in the Economist’s Most Liveable Cities list (taking the top award three times since 2002), Melbourne has a right to be boastful. But despite its temperate climate, safe streets, cosmopolitan lifestyle and beautiful setting, locals remain low-key about their city.
Doing business in Melbourne are five of Australia's 10 largest companies: ANZ, BHP, Coles Myer, National Australia Bank and Telstra. Computershare, the largest global registry in the world, is headquartered in Melbourne, and all of Australia's leading accounting and legal firms have either their headquarters or substantial operations based in Melbourne.
Business, banking and finance are Victoria's lifeblood, stimulating the economy, providing jobs and demonstrating the state's financial expertise to the world. Melbourne's financial services sector currently boasts 90,000 personnel and 563 establishments, with the Australian headquarters of seven of the top 20 US Fortune 500 companies based in Victoria – many in the Melbourne central business district.
Victoria is also known as Australia’s capital of biotechnology with biotech companies more than doubling over a five year period. Melbourne aims to be recognised as one of the world's top five biotechnology locations by 2010. A $400 million investment in Victoria's biotechnology future, called Bio 21, will capitalise on Victoria's world-class research and development capabilities.
Victoria's ever increasing popularity as a location for biotechnology investment has made the biotech-industry a state signature and the perfect place to hold global biotech meetings and events.
Melbourne also has the largest concentration of medical research institutes in Australia, and has joined London and Boston as one of only three cities in the world with two universities in the global top 20 rankings.
It’s also home to Australia’s only synchrotron located 40 minutes from the central business district, which will transform Australia’s scientific and industrial research capability.
The Victorian Government is so committed to promoting the state as a centre for excellence in research and development, that it launched a strategy called 'Think Melbourne, Think Victoria'.
The strategy positions Melbourne and Victoria as one of the world's leading thinking and innovative cities. Key industry leaders have joined the campaign to promote Victoria as an important destination for international conferences, meetings and business events. The campaign encourages leaders to use their contacts and industry knowledge to bring world class business events to Victoria in areas such as biotechnology, science, medical research, IT, manufacturing technology and financial services.
Sitting under this overarching strategy is the Club Melbourne Ambassadors program. The program is an initiative of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau and helps promote Melbourne as a business and conference destination.
Patron of the Club Melbourne Ambassadors program is the Premier of Victoria, John Brumby, and patron-in-chief is the Governor of Victoria, Professor David de Kretser.