The Northern Territory’s (NT) Chief Minister and Investment Commissioner are travelling to Japan in an effort to boost investment in the state’s economy, including its critical minerals resources.
The international trip, and face-to-face meetings with major Japanese companies, will be the first undertaken by the Northern Territory Government since the start of the global pandemic.
These meetings and more will focus on advancing the state’s capabilities in key industries including critical minerals, energy, defence, digital and space.
The Territory is already home to about $11 billion worth of committed projects and around $35 billion worth of planned and proposed projects also in the pipeline.
Northern Territory Chief Minister, Natasha Fyles, and Northern Territory Investment Commissioner, Andrew Cowan, will meet with INPEX to build upon their joint commitments and increase stable, clean energy supply and security for Australia.
Ms Foyles will also hold an Investment Briefing on the Northern Territory at the Australian Embassy, speaking to its potential in the areas of clean energy, critical minerals and aerospace.
“The Territory is Australia and the world’s investment capital,” Ms Foyles said.
“This week we’ll be face-to-face with some of the biggest investors in Japan to expand projects in the Territory, and create more jobs for Territorians and more opportunities for business.
“We appointed the Territory’s very first Investment and Major Projects Commissioners to capitalise on the next big opportunities for the Territory – and from amphibious aircraft manufacturing to the expansion of the Ichthys LNG processing facility – we are already seeing the benefits and exciting new opportunities from this.”
A tour will be taken of NEC which comes off the back of the April signing of the MoU between the Northern Territory Government, global tech company NEC Australia and NEC Corporation, to develop a sustainable innovation ecosystem, and grow the Territory’s digital capabilities. It follows significant private sector investment in subsea fibre optic cable and data centre infrastructure.
Discussions will be held with Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation and with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, around the NASA sounding rockets launched from the Arnhem Space Centre.
The Chief Minister will also catch up with Amphibian Aerospace Industries following the company’s milestone announcement to manufacture and export amphibious aircraft from Darwin, and its decision to join the Territory’s aerospace manufacturing precinct.
