Premier Ted Baillieu explains why Victoria is the leading state to invest and grow business.

TRANSCRIPT:

Victoria has got a very proud history of economic strength.

We have got competitive advantages in our agricultural sector, in our education sector; we have got fantastic energy resources and water resources.

We have one of the biggest ports in the world and indeed the biggest port in Australia.

And we are right at the centre of all the transport networks in Australia, whether it is road, rail, air, or by sea, and that gives Victoria a fantastic head start.

And with our multicultural base, we have got an opportunity to reach out to the world, reach out to the region, and we have the people here who understand our region.

And we very much believe that the competitive advantages we have in this state set this state apart.

That has been the history of this state, I am sure it will continue to be.

We have got a tertiary education section, higher education sector, in Victoria, which is the envy of the world.

And so many students from other parts of the world come to Victoria to study.

We have got some of the best universities right across the world here in Victoria.

We have an extraordinarily strong financial sector and that financial sector has driven the mining sector right around Australia for years, it has driven the manufacturing sector and indeed one of the world leaders.

And it contributes to the economy here, it is a major part of our service industry in Victoria and it is a part of what we believe sets Victoria apart from other states in Australia but also from other parts of the region.

There is absolutely no doubt that the history of Victoria is one of open arms where we welcome multicultural communities from all over the world and this is the multicultural capital of Australia.

We are very proud of that.

And indeed it gives us an opportunity to reach out to the world with knowledge, with understanding and with experience, and that is what we are doing.

We have a very active program of trade missions to the Middle East, to India, to China, to Korea, to Japan, South East Asia.

That will continue. I have had the opportunity of leading some of those trade missions – some of the biggest trade missions ever to leave Australia's shores.

We will be continuing that to attract investment, to build and grow our economy here, to develop jobs, and to allow families in particular to prosper.

We welcome anybody to come and join us, invest in Victoria, bring your family, bring your investment, we will grow jobs together.

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