The NSW Government has successfully locked-in Sydney as the home of one of the world's largest biannual defence and maritime industry events, the PACIFIC International Maritime Expo, for 2019 and 2021.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Trade and Industry John Barilaro said PACIFIC is the only comprehensive exhibition of its kind in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.
"The biannual PACIFIC exhibition will put Sydney centre stage when it comes to investment in defence and maritime technology," Mr Barilaro said.
"NSW defence and maritime companies will be exhibiting to win global export sales and we'll be directly supporting 16 of them on our stand to open doors and close deals.
"We'll also be meeting with senior leaders from the Royal Australian Navy, Department of Defence and global primes to strengthen relationships, attract investment and expand Defence and defence industry presence in NSW," he said.
NSW Defence Advocate Air Marshal (Retd) John Harvey AM said NSW offers critical industrial capabilities, a highly skilled workforce and world-class academic institutions with a focus on defence and maritime research.
"This makes NSW an ideal location for sustainable, globally-competitive and technologically advanced defence industries to flourish and prosper.
"NSW based companies like Thales, Bisalloy and Thomas Global Systems have strengths in sonar technologies, steel and armour plating, complex systems integration, naval sustainment and small arms production.
"Defence NSW sees strong growth potential for companies working with munitions, cyber security, data analytics and space," Air Marshal Harvey said.
PACIFIC 2019 and 2021 will be the fifth and sixth such events to be supported by the NSW Government as Principal Sponsor. The last PACIFIC expo held in Sydney attracted 546 companies from 25 countries as well as 79 international delegations and more than 16,700 attendees.
PACIFIC 2019 CEO Ian Honnery said NSW Government sponsorship underlines PACIFIC's role as an industry event of national significance, worthy of government support.
"It extends what has always been a close working relationship with the NSW Government—together we are taking Australian industry to the world, by bringing the world to Australia."
