Representatives from government, industry and the community will come together next week to identify priorities and pathways to ensure the Hunter will be ready to capitalise on enhanced access to global markets resulting from the Newcastle Airport runway upgrade.
The region's councils, led by the Hunter Joint Organisation, will host the Hunter Global summit on 17 and 18 February at Newcastle City Hall.
The event is open to anyone with an interest in how the region will benefit from new global opportunities.
The Federal Government announced in May last year that it would invest $66 million into upgrading Newcastle Airport's runway to international standard.
The upgrade to international (Code E) status means larger aircraft like Boeing 777s and Airbus 330s can land in Newcastle, with twice daily international flights expected alongside increased daily direct domestic flights.
It is estimated the project will create about 4400 full-time jobs, deliver an additional 850,000 visitors to the Hunter Region and add $12.7 billion to the local economy over the next 20 years.
Newcastle Airport terminal upgrade the $55m key to 'unlock Hunter's potential'
More than 150 delegates representing the tourism, hospitality, aviation, freight and logistics industries are registered to attend next week's event.
Day 1 will focus on tourism and globally connected enterprise while Day 2 will focus on freight and trade.
Property owner and developer Ed Crawford said business and government needed to work together to ensure the region seized the opportunities outlined in the project's economic assessment.
"Obviously Newcastle Airport is one of the very few airports in Australia or around the world where you don't have a big employment spin off and I think we are playing a bit of catch-up to ensure the community does have that benefit from the airport," he said.
"Given that it has taken this long to get to this point I think we should make sure that the State Government wraps up its own work in respect to the Special Activation Precinct and gets that finalised this calendar year.
"Job 2 is to make sure we get all of the employment generating land use opportunities into the market ahead of the runway being finalised and upgraded. A lot of the end users and businesses that will locate on the Special Activation Precinct are catalyst industries that will help put the whole thing on the map. We can't wait until that other infrastructure is ready. We need to get into the market right now while the Hunter is at the top of everybody's list."
