Dinner with Johor Port Logisitics, 3 March 2010

Last week, the AMBCQ played host to executive members from Johor Port Logistics (JPL), a prominent Malaysian firm.

The evening was a fairly informal affair with Hanifah and Susan from JPL.  Held at the COTAH training restaurant at Southbank Institute of Technology, we all had a three course meal including some delicious desserts.  It was lovely company and I think we all really enjoyed the conversation as well - plenty about life in Malaysia and Australia, the rainy weather!, things to see and people to meet in Brisbane, and the Socceroos!

It is always a pleasure for the AMBCQ to host visitors from Malaysia.  We were especially pleased to host visitors from Johor - the southern most state in peninsular Malaysia.  Much like Australia or Queensland, the political and business environment in Malaysia tends to be very centralised on the capital.  We feel that this is something that Queensland suffers from as well - there is so much business being done in the regions, yet their input and significance is often overshadowed by what is happening in Brisbane.

Johor has the distinction of being cheek-to-cheek with Singapore, so much so that our guests came via Singapore rather than KLIA. And Singapore being the largest regional port and very well planned infrastructure to support logistics, certainly is tough to compete against.  But cost savings and the abundance of space for the industry in Johor are competitve advantages.  It was very interesting to have a different perspective on business in Malaysia and I think we all enjoyed the opportunity to get to know Susan and Hanifah and JPL.

First Visit to Brisbane by Consul Khairuddin, Director MIDA, 26 February 2010

On Friday we were very pleased to welcome Consul Ahmad Khairuddin to Brisbane for the first time. Khairuddin is the Head of MIDA (Malaysia’s Industrial Development Authority) in Sydney, Consul Jaswant Singh’s replacement. David Goodwin, the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Qld (CCIQ) hosted the AMBCQ and Consul Khairuddin at their offices at Industry House, Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill. David is also a co-owner of Interport, a major logistics company based in Brisbane and a board member of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI).

A range of issues were discussed, including the current bilateral relations between Australia and Malaysia, the current competitive advantages and differences between Malaysia and Singapore, and other regional centres, the use of Malaysia as a hub for a number of industries, and other various issues.  It was a very valuable meeting and a good opportunity to speak to Khairuddin about issues in trade and regional relations.

We also hosted Consul Khairuddin on Saturday and brought him for a quick visit to the Gold Coast.  Unfortunately the weather was terrible and rather than show off our wonderful weather, we were pelted with heavy rain!  But we did enjoy a nice lunch across from the beach at Surfers Paradise before bringing him back to Brisbane to catch his flight back to Sydney.

As many people will know, Consul Jaswant Singh had an excellent reputation among AMBC members across Australia and is credited with helping make Australia the largest foreign investor in Malaysia.  He has left very big shoes to fill, but Kiong and I have absolute confidence that Consul Khairuddin will do an equally excellent job in developing and maintaining the strong investment and trade ties between our two countries.  In fact Khairuddin has gotten off to a flying start and has been highly impressive.