Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin and Tainan Mayor Hsu Tain-tsair will address the summit on the opening day to present business opportunities in their cities.

Kaohsiung, a sister city of Brisbane, will send Deputy Mayor Cheng Wen-lon to the summit, who will also speak on business opportunities presented by the sisterhood ties.

More than 600 delegates will attend the meeting, including civic and business leaders and decision makers from more than 50 Asia-Pacific cities.

The summit was founded in 1996 as an initiative of the Brisbane city council. It is held biennially, with the host city rotating between Brisbane and bidding cities in the Asia-Pacific region.

The primary goal of the summit is to foster city partnerships and to encourage the sharing of information and ideas between local governments, technical experts and businesses within the region.

According to the Brisbane city council, the theme for this year’s summit is “Renewing Asia-Pacific Cities.”

The summit will focus on cities as the catalysts for economic growth. It is designed to help businesses in the region establish relationships and create export and investment opportunities. For the first time, the summit will be held in conjunction with the 10th International River Symposium, a leading international forum on river management.

The delegates will have an opportunity to view the southern hemisphere’s largest working marina and shipyard, the Gold Coast City Marina.