Brisbane will host 130 leaders of Australian business, unions and the community at a major economic forum next week.
The Gillard Government has today released the agenda for discussion and the list of participants at the Prime Minister's Economic Forum on 12 and 13 June.
The Prime Minister will commence proceedings with a keynote address to a dinner on Tuesday night. This dinner will focus on Australia's role in the global economy, and in particular in the Asian Century.
The nation's patchwork economy and high Australian dollar will be the key opening sessions for Wednesday's Forum, with Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Wayne Swan and Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens presenting to the Forum.
The Economic Forum on 13 June will be divided into five sessions:
* Australia's Patchwork Economy and the High Dollar: opened by Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens and the Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan.
* Economic Transformation: Innovation and Collaboration: Opened by the Minister for Industry and Innovation Greg Combet.
* Investment in Productive Infrastructure: opened by the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Anthony Albanese.
* Building the Workforce: Skills and Education: opened by the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research Chris Evans.
* Competition and Deregulation Reform Agenda: opened by the Minister for Finance and Deregulation Penny Wong.
Our economy is among the strongest in the world - we have impressive growth, low unemployment, contained inflation, very low debt and a record investment pipeline. These strengths are only further confirmed by the release of economic data this week, such as the National Accounts and jobs figures.
At the same time, the sustained high level of the dollar and the patchwork nature of our economy means not all Australians are feeling these economic benefits, making this a key point of discussion at next week's Forum.
The Forum will also discuss the need to maintain a focus on productivity and growth.
Participants will discuss opportunities presented by major public policy reforms, such as the clean energy package, NBN, infrastructure, skills, tax reform and deregulation, and how these measures can improve Australia's competitiveness and productivity.
The Forum will also be an opportunity to discuss progress on a range of key economic policy priorities, such as the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper, the Prime Minister's Manufacturing Taskforce, the Business Tax Working Group and the COAG Business Advisory Forum on deregulation.