As we continue our trade mission to open new doors for Minnesota businesses in Australia, today offered a good reminder about the economic relationship we already share.

On Tuesday morning, our delegation visited Medtronic's Sydney offices to celebrate the Fridley-based company's 50th year operating in Australia. Medtronic has delivered over 40,000 distinct medical devices to patients in Australia and New Zealand and serves over 2 million people in these countries annually. It's an example of Minnesota exporting our med-tech expertise to the world – and it shows that innovation and discovery are global pursuits that Minnesota and Australia can tackle together.

Medtronic is one of about 40 Minnesota companies operating businesses at over 700 locations in Australia. Missions like this help DEED forge deeper international connections to lead to even more global expansion for Minnesota businesses.

Another trade mission goal is to encourage foreign investment in Minnesota to fuel economic growth and create good-paying jobs. On Tuesday, we hosted a luncheon and networking event with businesses executives and sector leaders from New South Wales to promote Minnesota as a leading U.S. business destination.

In the afternoon we visited the Greenhouse Climate Tech Hub with our clean tech and agriculture delegations to engage with Australian startup founders and business leaders and discuss opportunities for international partnership in tackling climate change. This is an area with significant opportunity for collaboration, with both Australia and the U.S. investing in renewable energy.

Minnesota's manufacturing expertise and its existing export infrastructure make it a natural trading partner as Australia pursues these climate goals. And last month, the federal government announced a Minnesota project would be one of seven nationally to share $7 billion in federal funding to kickstart development and production of hydrogen fuel – a promising climate change solution. 

We were also excited to join St. Cloud State University leaders as they formally expanded their relationship with Southern Cross University's Gnibi College of Indigenous Australian Peoples. Through this agreement, the institutions will develop new study abroad opportunities for Native American students at SCSU and Indigenous Australian students at Southern Cross University.

In the evening, we hosted a reception with over 100 Australians representing government, business, academic and partner organizations. Here, we spoke about Minnesota's economic and industry strengths and encouraged more collaborative trade and investment opportunities between Minnesota and New South Wales.

Tuesday was a busy and productive day for our delegation – and we're excited to keep this momentum going the rest of the week.