Melbourne has cemented its position as Australia’s top tech city and now it is launching a big push to drive more collaboration and better connections with both US and Canadian tech centers and their counterparts across Asia. Australia is serious about turning Melbourne into a high tech center.

Melbourne is known as being a multicultural city of five million which is regularly named among the world’s most liveable cities. But a less well known fact is that it produces the most tech graduates downunder and is home to the majority of leading Australian public tech companies.

Michael Kapel, Commissioner to the Americas for the Government of Victoria, Australia, says that Melbourne’s strong culture of innovation and deep talent pool of highly skilled tech workers was already attracting investment from some of the biggest U.S. tech names.

Companies including Square, Zendesk, Google, Salesforce, Slack, Stripe, EA, Yelp, Splunk, Expensify, Go Pro, Etsy, Eventbrite, Apple, Amazon, Cognizant, Culture Amp and more are among leading U.S. tech companies that have all recently established operations in Melbourne.

“Melbourne is a leading tech hub in the Asia Pacific region and has deep connections with the strongest regional players, making it the perfect location for U.S. companies seeking to break into fast growing Asian markets,” Mr. Kapel said.

“Melbourne is Australia’s fastest growing city with a booming economy, a highly skilled tech workforce, a vibrant tech ecosystem and an actively engaged and supportive government that works with the tech sector.”

And now the Government of Victoria, Australia is launching a major marketing campaign called Melbourne: Tech City Australia which is designed to encourage more investment, more collaboration and stronger connections with the U.S. tech sector.

The marketing campaign will feature prominent outdoor advertising, including being featured on San Francisco’s public transit system, digital campaigns and publications.

Reinforcing Melbourne’s push to strengthen ties with the U.S. is the announcement that Australia’s national carrier Qantas has launched direct flights between Melbourne and San Francisco.

Mr. Kapel said the new service would take the number of flights between Melbourne, Australia and North America to 31 per week, boosting tourism and trade.

For more details about investing in Melbourne, Australia and how the Victorian State Government can assist you, visit  techcity.melbourne