Australia-Korea Business Council appoints new Acting Executive Director

On behalf of the AKBC Executive Committee, I am delighted to announce the appointment of Louise Clunies-Ross as our new Acting Executive Director. While Louise will officially start in the role from 5 September 2022 once I go on parental leave, she has already joined the organisation and is quickly learning the ropes to ensure a seamless transition.

Louise has extensive experience working in international business development across the resources, energy, health and pharmaceutical and retail sectors, among others. After moving back to Perth, she was most recently a Senior Economic Development Officer at the City of Joondalup, where she supported local businesses looking to expand internationally. Prior to this, she was responsible for developing and implementing Asialink Business’ strategy to assist NSW-businesses develop capabilities in Asian and Indo-Pacific markets. She has also held a number of overseas-based roles including in China, Malaysia and Europe and speaks Mandarin, Cantonese and Malay.

Louise joins the AKBC at a pivotal moment for the Australia-Korea relationship, which continues to thrive as both our nations’ look to diversify our supply chains and the accelerate the global transition to net zero. Her experience in the resources and energy sectors will prove invaluable for AKBC members seeking to capitalise on these opportunities to grow their business.

Louise also has a deep understanding of the Western Australian market, which will be an asset for the AKBC as we continue to deliver advocacy and events for WA members following our successful merger with the Australia Korea Business Council of Western Australia (AKBCWA). With our Project Manager Victor Yang based in Sydney, and Administration Officer Min Chan Hong based in Melbourne, it’s exciting to have a presence on both the east and west coast of Australia and it will allow the organisation to deliver more local events and insights for our members.

I have no doubt that Louise will excel in leading the AKBC and I expect the organisation and its members go from strength to strength whilst I’m on parental leave.

I’m incredibly excited to welcome her to the team and look forward to introducing her to each of you over the coming weeks.

Yours sincerely,

Liz Griffin