It has been a very busy week for AMBCQ - and it's only Thursday! Monday we hosted a delegation of approximately 30 or so teachers and students from Sekolah Menengah Sultan Abdul Halim Jitra Kedah. This is an elite school (and was a leading rugby school in Malaya), and the students and their teachers were very impressive. We held a Malaysian style open house with beef rendang, nasi kunning, fresh vegetable achar, chicken curry, satay and bandung (a rose flavoured milk drink). Guests were treated to prime Australian meat that was sourced from the top meat suppplier in Queensland, and fresh Australian grown vegetables. In accordance with the dietary requirements of all but three in the delegation, the meal was halal. Thank you very much to the AMBCQ members who supported the event and also helped out on the night. I think the students and their teachers had an enjoyable evening and went away with a positive view, although their visit was very short.
On Tuesday we were very happily reunited with Jaswant Singh, former Director of MIDA, Sydney. Jaswant had spent three years in Sydney ending in November of last year, and he had a fantastic reputation during this time as a very switched on and effective consul for investment. He is currently in Brisbane helping to set up and manage the joint AMBCQ/Ministerial Business Roundtable with Malaysia's Minister for Trade which will take place on Friday. We had a very enjoyable dinner with Jaswant on Tuesday evening at Landmark restaurant and it was wonderful to catch up with him.
Yesterday the Malaysian Minister for International Trade and Investment, Datuk Seri Mustapa was in Sydney for the Forbes CEO Conference. AMBCQ was invited to attend a luncheon in Sydney at the Shangri-la Hotel hosted by AMBC in honour of the Minister. Our National President Larry Gould introduced the Minister, who spoke about his view of trade and investment between Malaysia and Australia, in the wider context of the deepening education, defence, and personal ties that the two countries have developed over the years. At the luncheon we were very privileged to be seated with Datuk Noharuddin Nordin, CEO of MATRADE, who was very good company and discussed at length with the guests issues in MATrade including a likely restructure, the sharpening of policy and the implementation of policy on the ground. It was also a pleasure to catch up with the AMBC national executive and AMBC executive director Colin McKenzie, who is always a wealth of knowledge and ideas.
Friday is of course the Ministerial roundtable here in Brisbane which the AMBCQ is co-hosting. While there have been events in the other states, we have not had this level of visit since 2007. We have been very busy with this meeting, helping to organise some of the logistics and also recommending businesses for involvement. Although the industries targeted on this very brief trip to Brisbane are highly specific, we hope that this meeting will be a precusor to more delegations from Malaysia and also pave the way for our own delegations to Malaysia next year.
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