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.
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