CROSS border commissioners from Victoria and NSW will for the first time today meet jointly with Albury MP Justin Clancy.
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Luke Wilson and James McTavish will face the NSW state politician at the start of a series of meetings staged on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of a combined visit to Albury.
The gatherings coincide with the final countdown to a memorandum of understanding being signed between NSW and Victoria for greater collaboration.
The document is now with the Cabinets of the respective states and the commissioners hope it will be ratified within weeks.
"The positive benefit of that is to ensure we've got interaction between state agencies across the border," Mr Clancy said.
Mr Wilson said the memorandum would give greater heft to efforts to reduce red tape.
"The main thing a memorandum of understanding gives, if two premiers have signed it, is that it gives you a bit of impetus when dealing with parts of government to say 'let's bring this to the table'," Mr Wilson said.
Mr McTavish wants the MOU signing announcement to be along the Murray River.
"I'm pushing for it to happen in a border community, whether that's in the Albury electorate or elsewhere is in the lap of the political gods," he said.
After meeting Mr Clancy, the commissioners will meet 20 advocates from across the region at a forum convened by Regional Development Australia Murray, a federal government initiative aimed at fostering development.
Its regional development director Edwina Hayes said many topics would be aired.
They include readiness for work tied to the Snowy 2.0 hydro-power project and inland rail as well as the flow-on effects of the Albury-Wodonga regional deal and Upper Murray 2030 plans.
Input to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority independent review and issues related to youth employment, skilled migration and refugee and migrant settlement will also be discussed.
On Wednesday the commissioners will meet emergency services chiefs in Albury.