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Australia Arab Chamber of Commerce and Gulf Council merge to help boost regional business
TWO ARABIAN business organisations have joined forces in Australia to maximise business development and growth between Australian companies, the Middle East and North Africa.
The Australia Arab Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AACCI) and the Australia Gulf Council (AGC) have, over the past six months, been engaged in negotiations to coordinate their approaches to promote bilateral trade and investment relations between Australia, the Middle East and North Africa.
The merger of the AGC with AACCI became effective last week. The merged organisation will be branded AACCI.
The AACCI branding is important as the name ‘Chamber of Commerce' holds significant importance in the Arab World. In the Middle East, the local chambers license all businesses operating in their countries, unlike in Australia where a separate government body, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) performas this role.
Additionally, the Arab Chambers only recognise export documents stamped by a Chamber of Commerce, and this is a significant piece of AACCI's current operations.
AGC's CEO Jonathan Herps has been appointed the AACCI CEO. Georgie Skipper, an AGC director, will be appointed to the National Board of AACCI.
A spokesman said the rationale for a merger of AACCI and AGC is a strong one. Both organisations are targeting essentially the same market.
However due to the fact that there are two organisations operating in the same region there has developed a fragmented approach to presenting ‘Australia' in the Middle East, and a fragmented approach to presenting opportunities from the Middle East back into Australia.
A merger of AGC into AACCI is a strong fit with the mission and the strategic vision of both organisations. The merged entity fills critical gaps in both organisations' strategy and capabilities.
"We believe that the complementary offering of both AACCI and the AGC will deliver high-level outcomes for our partners, members and indeed Australia. We believe that we can achieve far more as one organisation than as two," the spokesman said.
CHANGES OUTLINED
The AGC operations will continue under the AACCI brand as the 'Australia Arab Business Circle'.
AACCI is working to develop an organisation that can deliver high-level commercial outcomes for its partners and members.
"By limiting the overlap between the two organisations, we believe such a merger will derive significant outcomes for Australia's trade and investment relationship with the Arab League," the AACCI spokesman said.
Contact: Jonathan Herps at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tel: +61 (0) 2 9238 2048.
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