On Wednesday 10th May, the Consuls General of the Member States of the European Union invited SRAP President, Dr Ángel López-Sánchez (Macquarie University), and SRAP Treasurer, Dr Francisco (Paco) Sánchez Bayo (Sydney University), to a special diplomatic event celebrating Europe Day 2023, at the Gallery Room of the State Library of NSW.
The title of this diplomatic event was “Australia & the EU: Renewable Energy – Opportunities for Australia & the EU”.
From left to right: representatives of 3 Spanish companies in Australia, including Ferrovial Australia (CEO Enrique Blanco, second left), the General Consul of Spain in Sydney, Rebeca Guinea (third left), the European Ambassador in Australia (4 right) and the CEO of Investment NSW, Katie Knight,, Dr. Ángel López-Sánchez (Macquarie University and SRAP) and Dr Francisco (Paco) Sánchez Bayo (Sydney University and SRAP).
It was a great networking event with around 150 people with many diplomats and people from industries of Europe and Australia. The event, that was focused on renewable energies and the new EU-AU Trade Deal (that might be signed in the second part of 2023, when Spain will have the Presidency of the EU) was sponsored by Investment NSW.
Both the Ambassador of the European Union, Gabriele Visentin, and the CEO of Investment NSW, Katie Knight, emphasised in their speeches that “research and innovation are now more important than ever, we need to support researchers, connecting academia and industry, and promote mobility of researchers”.