Efforts to open up northern Australia for development will gain fresh momentum at the weekend when some of the world's most influential investors head to Darwin to learn about the region's virtues.
Agribusiness, aquaculture, resources, tourism, infrastructure, tropical medicine and education will be among the opportunities highlighted to about 350 executives and investors from 20 countries attending the high-level Northern Australia Investment Forum.
Attendees will also tour key sites in the country's north, including the massive Ord River scheme. The Federal, WA and Northern Territory governments are co-hosting the three-day forum, which begins on Sunday.
Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb said  increasing funding for research into tropical diseases such as malaria and dengue fever would be one of the main focuses of the forum.