ambassador glenn miles
رنا رمضان تصوير عايدحسيني
Distinguished Lebanese businessmen and women
My friend ,mr fady zouki, president of the Austalia Lebanon chamber of commerce and industry
And all of my Australian friends who have travelled from Australia to attend the 2025 Diaspora Energy Conference
On the behalf of my wife , Kathy , my colleagues at the embassy and , ofcourse , myself, it is a privilege to e able to host you today.
We had hoped to have Steve Bracks, a guest speaker at the Diaspora Energy Conference but unfortunately he had to leave earlier than expected.
As most of you know , Kathy and I have been here in Lebanon for just on four months .And ,so far, it is been a wonderful experience.
All up , Kathy and I have spent almost 16 years living in the Middle East region in six countries - I obviously joined the foregin service when I was very very young.
But while my experience in the region gave me an idea of what to expect Lebanon has proved to be so different from the elsewhere in the region.
From a work perspective , it is the fascinating -and occasionally frustrating - politics that makes every day so different.
But it is the warmth of the Lebanese people - including our own Lebanese community - that makes Lebanon such a pleasure to work and live in.
And it is the people to people links that underpin and define our relationship.
In this, Lebanon and Australia are fortunate.Everywhere I go throughout this wonderful country, I meet Lebanese who have connections with Australia .
Usually through a close family member living in Sydney or Melbourne
But occasionally because they have studied at one of our great universities or because they have close business links.
It is the role of governments and embassies to use these linkages and give the bilateral relationship shape.
Recently, I along with many of my Embassy colleagues, walked along the old railway line that used to link Tripoli with Beirut and that was built by the Australian troops who were here in 1941
This is a wonderful walk that followed the coast encourage anyone to do it .And for most of the way, the railway infrastructure is still largely intact, although overgrown and occasionaly cut.
In some ways , this resembles the bilateral trading relationship, with trade linkages so far unable to take advantage of the existing people to people networks that have been established by the hundreds of thousands of Australians of Lebanese descent.
In some ways, this resembles the bilateral trading relationship, with trade linkages so far unable to take advantage of the existing people to people networks that have been established by the hundreds of thousands of Australians of Lebanese descent .
In the 2013 -2014 financial year, the total trade between Australia and Lebanon stood at only 60 million dollars.
It is important to note here this undersells the trading relationship, as there would be many items, particularly food -stuffs, that would be re-exported from Dubai,and not included in these figures.
But whatever the real value of the bilateral trading relationship, it is clear it falls along way short of its potential.
For despite the political difficulties faced by Lebanon, there are enormous business opportunities -opportunities that need to be grasped to provide the building blocks for greater economic growth.
Part of the problem is perceptions , most of which is driven by media on one hand , Australia business people tend to only look at the Gulf when they consider business in the Middle East.
Lebanon looks a hard and difficult market, surrounded by instability.
But we need to look a bit further over the horizon , because Australians aren't aware billion -an solid market in anyones terms.
That the economy follows a laissez-faire model and that there are good opportunities in transportation, electricity, telecommunications ,education, solid and water waste.
And from Lebanon , Australia looks too far away, with little offer.
Many Lebanese aren't aware of that Australian is a global leader in Agribusiness, Education, Tourism, Mining and Wealth Management.
That we have had 24 years of uninterrupted growth
And that Autralia is ranked 5th in the world for GDP per capita and has the 12th largest economy
We and I say we , because it is a shared responsibility- need to change this. We need to tackle these perceptions.
That's why events like the Diaspora Energy Conference held last week and the strong participation by members of the Australia-Lebanese Community -are so important.
We need to use the economic power and knowledge of the Lebanese Australian Community to fuel the bilateral trading relationship.
To use the diaspora to set the example for other Australian and Lebanese businesses.
And to spread the news that both Lebanon and Australia are great places to do business.
That's already starting to happen.
The Bank of Beirut is 2011 acqustion of what is now the Bank of Sydney is the largest investment by a Lebanese institution in Australia.
Similarly , Zouky café at kaslik University establishment of a Cafeteria shows it cant following both ways.
And I know there are others here tonight that are also looking at and, indeed, are already exploiting trade and investment opportunities in a range of sectors.
Importantly , the Australia Lebanon Chamber of Commerce and Industry is holding a Business From in Melbourne this September
With the aim of bringing together Australian and Lebanese business people together.
And not just those from our 3 countries - but from our respective diasporas - in the Gulf , in Asia, in Africa and the Americas.
That will bring our trade up to the level it belongs at .
At the embassy , we cant drive economic growth, but we can support it.
We need to sit with you and work out how we can better utilize the strong linkages between our communities so we can take better advantage of what our two countries can offer each other.
I would be interested in hearing from the delegation and others here ideas on how we can do this better. How we can work together to promote trade and investment .
As I said earlier, the bilateral trade relationship is in some ways similar to the old Beirut -Tripoli railway line, Importantly, despite it not being as it should, the key elements and infrastructure remain in place.
The bridges and linkages are both solid and existing - they provide a pathway and a framework for growth.
We now need to make sure that they are being utilised to their best advantage , and to establish a way forward that benefits both countries.
Finally, he said: I would like to thanks everybody for his attending to my residence thanks for Lebanese and Australian who s sharing us this night.
