Cirencester and Bathurst recently formalised a friendship agreement and Bathurst Business Chamber president Angus Edwards says it has opened a number of opportunities - particularly as the local economy suffers from the long-running, ruinous drought.

"The business chamber is really excited about what's happening," Mr Edwards said at the recent launch of a display of goods from Cirencester at the Bathurst Visitor Information Centre.

"We're looking at taking the trade and the business between the two cities to the next level.

"We're in the process of planning our business delegation [to Cirencester] for next year to really make some connections on the ground, work with the tourism operators in both places, and really make the most of this great opportunity."

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Businesses in Bathurst are hurting because of the drought, he said, so the challenge is to look for new markets.

And the UK, when it emerges from a general election and Brexit, will be looking for new opportunities as well, he said.

"We see this as more than just the niceties of a friendship; there's actually some real business to be done," Mr Edwards said.

He said the respective Bathurst and Cirencester business chambers had formed their own connection by judging each others' business awards.

In doing so, the chambers had been given a taste of what the businesses in each community are doing and what challenges they are facing, he said.

Mr Edwards said he expected the Cirencester business chamber to reciprocate by visiting Bathurst in the future.

Cirencester, which is in England's Gloucestershire, plans to send a second young person to visit Bathurst after 18-year-old Alice Chandler came to the Central Tablelands in 2018.