Japanese Terra Drone sets up presence in Queensland

Queensland has been selected as the location of a major Japanese drone company’s regional office.

Terra Drone made the decision to come to Brisbane after the Queensland Premier’s trade mission to Japan in November 2016.

“Terra Drone were really excited about the Palaszczuk government’s focus on innovation and decided that Queensland was the ideal place for a base in the Asia–Pacific region,” said Jackie Trad, Deputy Premier and Minister for Trade and Investment.

The company will be setting up in Brisbane’s River City Labs innovation precinct and will be looking to build on its relationships with local businesses and academics.

“On his recent visit to Brisbane I was very pleased to meet with CEO Toru Tokushige, who was enthusiastic about Queensland’s drone-friendly policy framework as well as the support for innovation, entrepreneurship and growth through our Advance Queensland policy,” said Trad.

“Collaborations with international companies like Terra Drone will further drive innovation and create jobs in Queensland in industries like mining and agriculture, but also in traffic management, infrastructure and health care.”

Tokushige attended an Infrastructure Investment Seminar in Tokyo during the Premier’s trade mission and has since visited Queensland several times to explore collaboration opportunities.

“We are bringing our cutting-edge and innovative technology to Queensland and are looking to expand our business to a broader global market,” said Tokushie.

Tokushige’s 20 years’ experience in establishing start-ups (including in Silicon Valley) and success with disruptive technologies has earned him a reputation as the ‘Elon Musk’ of Japan and has led to Terra Drone’s shareholders including former CEOs of Sony, Apple Japan and Google Japan.

Image credit: ©FreeImages.com/Daniel L

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