The Invest and Trade Western Australia team has wrapped up a successful mission to the United States of America (USA).

 Led by the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation's Deputy Director of Strategy and International Engagement Simone Spencer, the mission aimed to strengthen WA-USA relationships and explore trade and investment opportunities ahead of the 2024 opening of the new Invest and Trade WA office in Austin, Texas.

The trip also provided an opportunity to introduce Natasha Monks, Western Australia’s newly appointed Investment and Trade Commissioner to the Americas, who will be overseeing the Austin office.

Over the course of 11 days, the delegation visited the cities of Houston, Austin, Boston, New York and Washington DC.

Highlights of the mission include:

• The announcement of the new Invest and Trade Western Australia office in Austin, Texas in 2024.
• Promoting Western Australia as an ideal location to visit, study, trade and invest at the Western Australia’s Happy Hour business networking event in Austin.
• Showcasing Western Australia’s health and medical life sciences capabilities at BIO 2023 in Boston.
• Holding one-on-one meetings and roundtables with industry partners and investors to promote collaboration with WA’s priority sectors of mining and METS, energy, health and medical life sciences and space. 
• Highlighting Western Australia’s high-quality critical minerals resources, robust supply chain and skilled workforce at the Battery Gigafactories USA 2023 Conference in Washington DC.

The US was WA’s 6th largest trading partner in 2022, with a total trade worth of around $8.7 billion.

 The country is also a significant investor in Western Australia’s resources sector, particularly across energy projects.

 The establishment of Invest and Trade WA’s Americas hub in Austin is set to tap into this significant potential to grow WA-USA relationships across a range of sectors and explore other opportunities in markets across the region.

 To find out more about investment and trade opportunities between Western Australia and global markets, contact the Invest and Trade WA team at investandtrade@jtsi.wa.gov.au.

Published on: 12 June 2023