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Secretary Foxx Announces New Partnership with Australia to Promote Cooperation on Key Transportation Priorities

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Agreement advances collaboration on public-private partnerships, intelligent transportation systems and unmanned aircraft systems

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia -- U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Australian Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Darren Chester today joined together to sign a new agreement that will strengthen collaboration on infrastructure investment strategies, and embark on key transportation priorities in technology and innovation between the U.S. and Australia.

The Memorandum of Cooperation will enable the two nations to exchange information, data and best practices on topics including the use of public-private partnerships (P3s) to support infrastructure development, intelligent transportation systems and unmanned aircraft systems.

"In this era of globalization and interdependence, cooperative partnerships around the world are a necessity and we’re fortunate to have great friends in Australia who understand this imperative," said Secretary Foxx. "Today we committed to strengthening our longstanding cooperative relationship in order to harness data and best practices to build safer and smarter transportation systems."

One of the key areas of cooperation identified in the new agreement is the development of P3s to advance critical infrastructure projects. This week, Secretary Foxx is meeting with Australian transportation officials at the federal and state levels, as well as key private sector leaders, to learn more about Australia's experience with P3s and to identify strategies that could foster the growth of successful P3s in the U.S.

Australia is a recognized leader in employing P3s to support a wide array of infrastructure projects, allowing smaller government investments to leverage much larger amounts of private capital to support the construction of roads, bridges, transit systems and more.

Secretary Foxx is also using his visit to Australia to highlight the Department of Transportation's newly-launched Build America Bureau. The Bureau serves as a one-stop shop for government and private sector entities looking for innovative ways, including P3s, to fund infrastructure projects.

More information about the Build America Bureau is available at: https://www.transportation.gov/buildamerica.

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