With the gradual opening of various international borders, MLA has finally been able to activate parts of our international marketing program that have been mostly dormant for a couple of years.
In the last few months, we’ve seen the return of face-to-face customer events and seminars, restaurant and retail promotions, and even trade events involving international travel.
Gulfood 2022 was MLA’s first physical event that included Australian exporters since Gulfood 2020. 15 exporters took a booth at the Aussie Beef and Lamb stand, with customers visiting from all around the gulf and further afield.
Commercial demand for Australian product in the Middle East is strong, not least in Saudi Arabia where we’ve recently placed a full-time staff business development manager, Jad Hedwane, for the first time. Saudi Arabia has undergone something of a cultural transformation in recent years, and this is accompanied by a significant increase in restaurants, hotels, resorts etc. Australian beef and lamb is well regarded in the Kingdom and it’s a perfect time for industry to have an Arabic-speaking representative on the ground in Riyadh.
Jad Hedwane is joined by two other new business development managers, Juthamas Kaewnoi (Kat) in Bangkok and Huong Tran in Ho Chi Minh city. All these new positions have been fully funded by the Federal Government’s AgriBusiness Expansion Initiative (ABEI) and are already on the ground helping identify opportunities for Australian product.
If you’re an Australian exporter or customer and would like to introduce yourself, please reach out to myself or one of your MLA contacts and we would be happy to facilitate it.
Andrew Cox
General Manager – International Markets
