A JOINT ACITI / PERTH USASIA CENTRE MASTERCLASS
Western Australia's International Trade and Investment Challenges
A full-day masterclass on the forces reshaping Western Australia's international trade and investment position: strategic competition, climate transition, and digital and AI disruption.
Wednesday 4 November 2026
University of Western Australia, Perth
$850 per person
Registration closes on 28 October 2026
About the Masterclass
This Masterclass brings together the trade and investment expertise of the Australian Centre for International Trade and Investment (ACITI) with the Perth USAsia Centre's geostrategic and Indo-Pacific focus.
Across one day, participants will examine three challenges reshaping Australia's, and particularly Western Australia's, international trade and investment position: geostrategic competition, the climate transition, and digital and AI disruption.
Each module pairs a national and global briefing with a Western Australian perspective, so participants can connect each challenge directly to state-level trade and investment implications.
Event details
Date: Wednesday, 4 November 2026
Time: Full day, 9:00am to 5.00pm
Venue: University of Western Australia (UWA), Perth
Hosts: Australian Centre for International Trade and Investment (ACITI) and the Perth USAsia Centre
Cost: $850 per person
What you will learn
By the end of the Masterclass, participants will be able to:
Explain how intensifying geostrategic competition in the Indo-Pacific is reshaping the rules-based trading system and Australia's trade and investment relationships.
Identify the practical implications of climate transition and decarbonisation commitments for Western Australian exporters, investors and supply chains.
Assess how digital transformation and artificial intelligence are changing trade facilitation, global supply chains and international investment decisions.
Apply these three lenses (geostrategic, climate, and digital and AI) to evaluate the risks and opportunities facing you organisation or sector.
The program
The day opens with a welcome and introduction to the hosting institutions, followed by three thematic modules. Each module moves from a national and global briefing to a view from Western Australia.
Welcome and introductions
An introduction to the Masterclass, the University of Western Australia as host venue, the Perth USAsia Centre and its Indo-Pacific research and engagement mandate, and ACITI and its trade and investment mission.
Module 1: The Geostrategic Challenge
Framing the broader strategic environment, from great-power competition and shifting alignments across the Indo-Pacific to their effect on trade and investment flows.
Impacts on, and implications for, the Indo-Pacific
Impacts on international trade and investment
Impacts for rules-based trade, including how pressure on multilateral trade rules is playing out in practice for business and government
Module 2: The Climate Challenge
How climate policy, decarbonisation commitments and the global energy transition are reshaping trade and investment flows, including carbon border measures, green finance, critical minerals demand and supply chain realignment. The module closes with the view from WA: what these shifts mean for Western Australian exporters and investors.
Module 3: The Digital and AI Challenge
How digitalisation and artificial intelligence are changing trade facilitation, customs and border processes, global supply chains and investment due diligence. The module closes with the view from WA: what this means for WA-based businesses and investors adopting these tools.
Wrap-up and close
Reflections from the course convenors and key takeaways from the day.
Who should attend
The Masterclass is designed for professionals with a stake in Western Australia's international engagement, including:
Exporters, investors and business leaders operating in or expanding into Indo-Pacific markets
Policy officials and government trade and investment advisers
Legal, financial and professional services advisers to trade and investment clients
Postgraduate students and researchers in trade, international relations or public policy
ACITI and Perth USAsia Centre members, partners and alumni
Register your place
For registration enquiries, please contact info@aciti.org.au