What the region's business leaders really think of the Hunter

The Future Made in the Hunter conference brought together the region's sharpest business minds at Newcastle's City Hall to discuss how to propel the region forward.

Business Hunter chief executive Bob Hawes said the Hunter had "almost an unfair advantage" compared to other regions and "we should be using it".

"There's a pretty well universal recognition that the Hunter is a good place to be doing these things, to be looking at new industries and new opportunities," Mr Hawes said.

Business Council of Australia chief executive Bran Black said communities across the nation should envy the region's economic diversification.

"You think about what Newcastle and the Hunter was like three decades ago and what it is now, and it's completely different," Mr Black said.

"It's got standalone strength in so many different sectors, which affords so many different employment opportunities right across the board.

"I don't know too many places in Australia that can boast about having a presence in so many different sectors - whether you're talking resources, defence, health, tourism, viticulture or manufacturing."

However, Port of Newcastle corporate affairs executive manager Lucas Coleman said the diversification had to continue, which was why the company was pushing for a new container terminal

"We had 27 different types of cargo through Port of Newcastle at 152 million tonnes, but 143 million of those tonnes were coal," Mr Coleman said.

"We have to diversify. Our largest export energy partner Japan, they take most of our coal - in August they'll release their five-year energy plan and we fully expect not to be included in their future outlook."

NIB chief executive Mark Fitzgibbon said the advantages of the Hunter were becoming more obvious to people.

"I think as more people are visiting Newcastle, as more people understand the high-quality tertiary education here," Mr Fitzgibbon said.

"Even the geographic advantages, the Hunter region has space that isn't readily available in any seaboard area.

"The Hunter is blessed with many natural attributes. It's just a question of people having the vision, the risk appetite and preparedness to invest."

Newcastle Airport chief executive Peter Cock called the Hunter a "Goldilocks region".

"We're big enough to do interesting and important things, but we're not so big that they're unmanageable," Dr Cock said.