During 28-29 August 2025, H.E. Ms. Arjaree Sriratanaban, Ambassador of Thailand to Australia, visited Melbourne and nearby areas to explore potential collaboration in the areas of sustainability and decarbonisation. She was joined by a delegation from Siam Cement Group (SCG), led by Mr. Chana Poomee, Chief Sustainability Officer of SCG and Chairman of the Thai Cement Manufacturers Association (TCMA).

On 28 August, the delegation visited the Battery Research and Innovation Hub at Deakin University, which is one of Australia’s leading centres for battery research and development. The Hub’s work covers design, manufacturing, performance testing, and recycling, supporting the future needs of clean energy and industrial sustainability. The delegation also met with representatives from Deakin’s Institute for Frontier Materials, Electrical & Renewable Energy Engineering, and the School of Engineering to learn about the University’s research capabilities and to discuss potential collaboration in areas such as sustainable and durable infrastructure materials, green geopolymer concrete, and microgrid energy management systems.

The delegation later had a meeting with the Climateworks Centre at Monash University. They were briefed and exchanged views with representatives from Climateworks and the Monash Sustainable Development Institutes on topics such as water management for industry and communities, sustainable and resilient electricity grid management. Climateworks Centre also shared its mission and activities in Southeast Asia, with a focus on industrial decarbonisation, supporting a just energy transition, and corporate sustainability. On this occasion, representatives from SCG presented the Saraburi Sandbox Initiative, a flagship pilot project aimed at transforming Saraburi into a low-carbon city. The initiative emphasises collaboration between government, industry, and the public to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Thailand’s cement and construction materials sector.

On 29 August, the delegation visited the CO2CRC Otway International Test Centre (OITC). The delegation received a briefing on carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies, the outlook for CCUS deployment in Australia, as well as CO2CRC’s research achievements and partnerships. The visit also included a tour of CO2CRC’s testing facility, which serves as a key demonstration project for large-scale CO2 storage. CO2CRC is Australia’s leading collaborative research centre for CCUS technologies, playing an important role in advancing research, field testing, and fostering partnerships between government, academia, and industry both domestically and internationally. The Otway International Test Centre is recognised as a significant CO2 storage demonstration site, with more than 20 years of continuous research projects, serving as a model for the development and deployment of CCUS technologies across multiple industries.