Farewell: Heading to Melbourne & Pleased to advise that Michael Kapel, the Victorian Premier's Chief of Staff, will be my Successor as Commissioner

As many of you know, my statutory term as Commissioner concludes at the end of the month.

I am looking forward to living in Melbourne, the world's most liveable city. Every statistical analysis as well as feedback from every American who has ever visited verifies Melbourne's position as a great place to raise children and a great environment for business. What will I be doing? First things first, I will take some time out to do some writing and spend time drinking good coffee with good friends. I am then looking forward to returning to global business from my base in Melbourne.

I am delighted to let you know that my successor as Commissioner has now been confirmed. He is Michael Kapel, the Victorian Premier's Chief of Staff. The appointment of the Premier's Chief of Staff as my successor will help us to continue to emphasise the importance of the Americas to the economic future of the State of Victoria.

My family and I have had been a terrific time here in the Americas. San Francisco is a great place to live and spending time with the talented people of Silicon Valley and the rest of the west coast has been great. So too the spread of Victoria's interests across North and South America has led me to understand our place in the world so much better.

Many people were amused that I agreed to take the job in the middle of America's worst recession since the depression. However persistence, hard work and good humour have allowed us to deliver excellent results in foreign direct investment, support of exporters, Access America and in our broader role of government & cultural relations. The Australian accent and the American love of all things Australian opens many doors.

The role of Victorian Commissioner to the Americas is a very positive one selling the attributes of Melbourne, Victoria and Australia to Americans North and South. These days this includes attracting more Americans to help fill our skills shortages.

Forty of Victoria's top fifty foreign investors are American and include a Who's Who of Business including Boeing, Alcoa, IBM, HP, Oracle, GE, General Motors, Ford, PACCAR, Kraft, Heinz and many others. It has been an honour to stay in touch with the leadership of these corporations to seize new opportunities and understand risk to existing investments. Recent American investments in Victoria include Boeing, IBM, Ford, Juniper Networks, Electronic Arts & Polycom.

The role allows us to work closely with global Victorian/Australian firms like BHPBilliton, Orica, C4i and our excellent food and beverage companies. We collaborate with NGOs like the American Australian Association, Advance, the various Chambers of Commerce as well as Federal Government agencies like DFAT and Austrade. As a person with public policy passions, it was great to meet political leaders like George Bush, Bill Clinton, Governors Huntsman, Brown, Schwarzenegger, Rendell, Purdue and others. Intriguing responsibilities included managing our sponsorship of the Asilomar International Conference on Climate Intervention Technologies.

As I have travelled to various cities involved in the G'Day USA 2012 Programme, many people have been kind in their good wishes to me and praise for the team I run. I would like to thank you all for your support and encouragement during my term as Commissioner.

See as well:

• Age Profile of Michael Kapel by Farrah Tomazin
• Baillieu's top adviser Kapel gets plum job on Channel 9

• My Linkedin Page