Melbourne’s new AUD$1 billion Convention Centre development is running on time and on budget to open in 2009. The 90-metre tall crane now dominating the site will lift 52 tonne steel trusses that will give shape to the new centre’s distinctive triangular roof. International conventions are being locked in at a rapid pace too.

‘There are now 16 international conventions booked into the new centre which will bring a combined total of more than 36,000 delegates to Melbourne and generate over AUD$250 million in economic impact for Victoria,’ announced Sandra Chipchase, Chief Executive Officer of Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau (MCVB).

The latest wins for the new centre include the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics General Assembly Conference, expected to draw over 4000 delegates, and the 5th International Congress of the Asia Pacific Society of Infection Control which will see a further 1000 delegates arriving in Melbourne, both events will be in 2011.

‘Melbourne has a strong base for innovation with an advanced infrastructure, a highly educated workforce, world-class research institutions and seven leading universities, making our city the perfect backdrop for the meeting of so many world-renowned minds,’ said Ms Chipchase.

Other events confirmed for the new Melbourne Convention Centre are the International Federation of Operational Research conference in 2011 and the Parliament of the World’s Religions in 2009, which alone will see 10,000 delegates arriving in Melbourne.

Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre’s Chief Executive, Leigh Harry, welcomed the early interest in what will be Australia’s largest combined convention and exhibition venue.

‘It’s not only going to be a visually stunning building with unparalleled flexibility and the latest technology, but the levels of service will provide delegates with an experience second to none,’ Mr Harry said.

The new Melbourne Convention Centre opens for business in 2009.

Conventions won for the new Melbourne Convention Centre to date:

• International Geomorphology Conference, 2009


• International Federation of Societies of Cosmetic Chemists International Conference, 2009


• Parliament of the World’s Religions, 2009


• Congress of the International Federation of Municipal Engineers, 2009


• World Congress of the International Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy, 2009


• International Congress for the Chemistry of Crop Protection, 2010


• Congress of the Federation of Asian and Oceanic Biochemists and Molecular Biologists (Symposium), 2010


• World Congress of Internal Medicine, 2010


• International Congress of Applied Psychology, 2010


• International Congress of Parasitology, 2010


• International Conference of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2010


• International Botanical Congress, 2011


• World Congress on Human Reproduction, 2011


• International Conference of the International Federation of Operational Research, 2011


• 5th International Congress of the Asia Pacific Society of Infection Control, 2011


• International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics General Assembly Conference, 2011

Total projected delegates: 36,600

Total projected economic impact: $251,154,050

Projected economic impact figures as of 11 July 2007. Figures based on National Business Events Survey 2004, adjusted for CPI.