New committee elected at Annual General Meeting
The 2012 AGM took place on 21 June, at the premises of Macquarie Group in Sydney.
We have two new Vice Chairmen, Mr Mark Dorney, RedBridge Grant Samuel, and Mr Anker Hung, Minatek Pty Ltd. Mr Dorney and Mr Hung bring a tremendous wisdom and business experience to their new positions and Mr Hung in particular has great knowledge of Taiwan and of Taiwan and China business. I am looking forward to working with them in the year ahead.
I am also pleased to welcome Ms Margaret Wang, Clayton Utz, as a member of the National Executive. Based in Queensland, Margaret will increase our ability to work with business and government in that state to improve member services.
AGM Luncheon
There was a full table and a waiting list again this year for the AGM Luncheon, generously hosted by Macquarie for the thirteenth successive year!
The Guest of Honour, Ambassador Katharine Chang, Representative at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, Canberra spoke eloquently about recent business, economic and political developments in Taiwan and in cross strait relations. She also briefed us on the achievements of the 2012 ‘Bilateral Economic Consultations’ (BEC) held on 19 and 20 June at DFAT in Canberra. We greatly appreciate Ambassador Chang’s giving up a day of her valuable time to be with us for our AGM celebrations.
Martin Walsh returns to Taiwan
落葉歸根
In a few weeks time, Mr Martin Walsh, one of Australia’s most senior and experienced trade commissioners, will commence duties as head of Austrade in Taiwan. Currently, Martin is Senior Trade Commissioner at Seoul.
We were particularly pleased at the news of this appointment. Martin knows Taiwan (and China) business better than most Australians, having served at Taipei in the early 1990s and subsequently. As he said at last week’s AGM Luncheon, he feels his return to Taiwan is best described by the Chinese saying, 落葉歸根 — “A fallen leaf returns to the roots!”
26th Joint Conference of ATBC and ROCABC
Our counterpart, the ROC-Australia Business Council (ROCABC), hosts this year the 26th Joint Conference. The Joint Conference will be held 4–6 September, at Kaohsiung. In the near future, we’ll send members and friends a detailed and registration forms. For the second year in a row, the annual ‘Joint Energy and Minerals Trade and Investment Consultations’ (JEMTIC), managed by the two governments, will be held in conjunction with our Conference.
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