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I had the privilege of visiting the whole world in one place recently – at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

It was an almost overwhelming experience, with 70 million people expected to visit the Expo over its six month duration. Among the grandness of the exhibitions, I was sharply focussed on promoting Victoria’s economic and cultural strengths.

Victoria forms a major part of Australia’s significant presence at Expo 2010. After all, it’s a Victorian company that is behind the striking design of the Australia Pavillion – which is coated in what looks like iron ore.

As I met members of business and trade delegations, I shared with them the story of Victoria in 2010: how we are an outward-looking economy with a diverse industrial base, which has emerged from the Global Financial Crisis in better shape than most comparable economies around the world.

Visiting Shanghai at a time when the world’s focus is on the Expo was an essential step towards cementing Victoria’s ties with China – on both a trade and cultural level – but also necessary to keep up with a rapidly changing global environment.

No visitor to Expo 2010 can dispute these facts: the global economy is connected like never before; the world is facing challenges we have never faced before; and technology is developing more rapidly than ever before.

It is imperative that our state can tap in to the latest research developments and form collaborative partnerships in the diverse economic sectors in which we have expertise.

One of these sectors is education. A good education must involve connecting to cultures and ideas and information from around the world, because every student is part of a global community, and a global economy.

I know that Victorian parents – as well as Indian parents with sons or daughters studying here – want to be assured that their children are receiving the best education possible in the 21st century. That’s why I was thrilled to participate in a live video link-up between secondary students in Melbourne, and the Australia Pavillion at Expo 2010.

These students will be ambassadors for Victoria when they travel to Shanghai in August to demonstrate how a Victorian high school classroom operates. That’s just one way of showing what Victoria can offer the world.
It was also my great privilege to visit the United Arab Emirates on this recent trip. In the Emirate of Sharjah, I passed on my best wishes to the very first VCE class that is running at the Victorian International School of Sharjah. Using Victorian teachers and our own state curriculum, this school has blossomed over the past two years, from a junior school with 140 students, to a school of 700 – from Prep to Year 12.

It’s yet another important link between Victoria and the world.