The Australian government is now eyeing possible trade missions in Bacolod City to increase investments, visits, and any collaboration with the city government.
This is after Dr. Moya Collett, Australia Deputy head of Mission, made a courtesy call with Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez on Monday, November 20, at the Bacolod City Government Center (BCGC).
Benitez said Collett will be in Bacolod City for two days and they discussed a lot of possible trade missions between Australia and Bacolod City.
“As we all know, we are now in the process of a sisterhood agreement between Bacolod City and Darwin, Northern Territory of Australia, and it’s still pending at the City Council for approval,” he said.
He added that they would like to increase the footprint of the investment coming from Australia since in Southeast Asia, the Philippines is so very close to them.
The mayor noted that the focus of the Australian government is on agriculture and since Bacolod is really not an agricultural local government, there’s a neighboring local government unit that is engaged in agriculture and they can do some exchanges.
Benitez disclosed that there’s also a possibility that Bacolod can send workers to Australia.
Moreover, Benitez said Collett was also impressed with the performance of the MassKara Festival dancers who welcomed her at the Bacolod-Silay Airport in Silay City.*
