Sydney: Gateway City
Sydney, city of 3.7 million people, capital of the State of New South Wales, is the gateway to Australia.
Almost 70% of visitors make Sydney their first point of contact. It is served by almost 30 international airlines - and the airport is a mere 15 minutes' driving time from the central business district.
The city is headquarters to the vast majority of banking and other financial and commercial corporations, both local and international.
Its time-zone advantage (15 hours ahead of the U.S. Eastern Seaboard and 18 hours ahead of the West Coast) makes Sydney a logical location.
The move to establish Sydney as financial center of the Asia-Pacific region began in Korea in 1989, moved on to a top-level mission to London in 1990, and was backed up with a similar event in New York in February this year. A further mission is planned for Tokyo in November.
The project is spearheaded by Peter Charlton, principal of one of Australia's most successful advertising, public relations, and marketing consultancies, the Charlton Group.
He has coordinated the Korean, London, and New York missions - which were led by the New South Wales premier, Nick Greiner.
