HYDERABAD: In what is being touted as the first-of-its-kind  'three-city sister agreement,' Hyderabad is joining hands with the Australian cities of Brisbane  and Ipswich to promote and exchange trade, vocational education and job generation. The two cities are located in Queensland, which is the second largest state in Australia.

An MoU putting a seal on the sister-city status will be inked by the mayors of the three cities here on Tuesday. The pact is aimed at increasing two-way investment and encouraging trade between the three cities, said officials of Queensland at a meeting organized by Confederation of Indian Industrys (CII) AP state council here on Monday.

"We chose Hyderabad over other Indian cities because it's known for being the easiest city to do business with. We have a large population from AP back in Ipswich and Brisbane," said Rod Solomons, commissioner ( South Asia), Australian government.

Buoyed by the recent big ticket investments made by Indian players like the Gujarat-based Adani group as well as Hyderabad-based Dhanush Infotech, which opened up an operations centre in Queensland, officials from Queensland have their fingers crossed that more city-based companies will come forward to invest on their shores.

The pact is expected to encourage investors from the pearl city to explore investment opportunities across sectors such as mining, aerospace, IT, infrastructure, green construction, among others, in Queensland.

Pitching their state aggressively to AP Inc here, a 20-member delegation comprising officials and businessmen said that Queensland was among the fastest growing regions Down Under.

The agreement that comes a year after allegations of racist attacks against Indians in Australia is also intended to improve relations between the countries. "We want to show how our states are safe for everybody," said the lord mayor of Brisbane, Campbell Newman. Source: TOI 5/10/10