Lunch with Rudy Khairudin, Malaysian Agricultural Consul, 4th October

The group enjoying lunch and conversation.

The AMBCQ is always busy, but sometimes it gets super busy.  We have been assisting with Talent Corp's upcoming programme in Brisbane, and have also spent many days helping to arrange a 60 person strong ministerial delegation from Sarawak that is arriving next week, plus the upcoming Citra Malaysia festival in Brisbane's King George Square, and a visit by the Mayor of Kuching all happening in rapid succession.  New baby and I are going to have to miss out on everything next week, but there's still plenty to do and organise in the meantime.

Our group fitted nicely in the private dining room
of Hilton Brisbane's Vintaged Restaurant.

Last Thursday, Rudy Khairudin, the Malaysian Agricultural Consul, came to Brisbane and we had a round table lunch in his honour.  Although we have been engaging with Rudy since he came to Australia last year, it was our first opportunity to meet Rudy (like most of the trade consuls, he works out of Sydney).    Rudy went out of his way to visit us - he was actually on leave and was supposed to be enjoying a holiday with his family on the Gold Coast!  So we were very glad he could make the time to visit Brisbane and allow the AMBCQ to host him for lunch in the private dining room at Vintaged, at the Hilton.

Bryan Davies gave the vote of thanks and also delivered our gift to Rudy
- two boxes of chocolate.  A little compensation to thank him for
spending his (holiday) time with us.

Rudy's job is to advocate on behalf of Malaysian agricultural industries and outputs, and to also seek areas of collaboration between Australia and Malaysia. It was very interesting to hear about some of the initiatives that are going on between Australia and Malaysia and some of the shared interests.  Particularly from a Queensland point of view, some of the agricultural industries that Queensland is strong in are the same as those Malaysia is strong in - such as bananas, pineapples, and other tropical fruit.  While this should be a point of competition, and it has been a point of contention at times, it is also provides a valuable platform for collaboration.

Rudy and Kiong. Sorry, new camera.
We're still getting used to it.

It was a most enjoyable lunch and the staff at Hilton really looked after us. There was lots of lively conversation around the table and Rudy was really good to give all the guests his time and attention, addressing all sorts of questions of international trade and cooperation.