The Australia Arab Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AACCI) and the Australia Gulf Council (AGC) are delighted to announce that the two organisations will merge effectively immediately.

Mr Ahmed Fahour, Chair of the Council for Australia Arab Relations and Managing Director and CEO of Australia Post, described the merger as “an inspired decision which will be of benefit to Australia’s economic and cultural wellbeing.”

Mr Roland Jabbour, Esq .J.P., National Chairman of AACCI emphasised the importance of the Australia-Arab relationship, economically, politically and strategically.

The Arab League comprises over 400 million people over 22 country states, including Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

The Arab League is home to six of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, making its outbound investment potential significant.

Mr Jabbour said the merger “occurs at a perfect time for both organisations who were looking to expand their regional influence, build stronger bilateral relationships and develop further linkages with small, medium and blue chip firms in Australia doing business with the MENA region. A merger between AACCI and the AGC is a strong fit with the mission and the strategic vision of both organisations.”

Mr Jonathan Herps, who is the CEO of the AGC, has been appointed CEO of AACCI.

Jonathan commented "we believe that the complementary offerings 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 merged entity fills critical gaps in both organisations' strategy and capabilities.

Georgie Skipper, a Director of the AGC will be appointed onto the AACCI National Board as a Director and will work on AACCI’s government relationships.

AACCI has been established since 1975 as a national organisation and operates across the 22 countries in the Arab League and has a network that spans Australia wide, holding events in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Sydney monthly.

Since its establishment in 2010, the AGC has worked on high level government, corporate and diplomatic tasks, securing the support of over 35 Corporate and Strategic Partners and creating the Council of Distinguished Advisers. It has run business missions to the Gulf States led by Hon Bob Hawke AC, Hon Peter Costello AC, Hon Mark Vaile AO, Hon Nick Sherry, Hon Anna Bligh, and Mr Ahmed Fahour.

“Approaching the Australia-Arab relationship requires vision, persistence and a real cultural nous. Combining the operations of both AACCI and AGC, under the leadership of Mr Jabbour and the National Board of Directors is the perfect way to position Australia and put our best foot forward, maximising the trade and investment with countries in the MENA region” Michael Yabsley, Chairman of the AGC commented. Michael Yabsley will continue to endorse the merged organisation, but will step out of a formal role.

The merged entity will operate under the AACCI brand due to the historical role AACCI has played and because a ‘Chamber of Commerce’ holds significant importance in the Arab World as the local Chambers license all businesses operating in their countries. Also, the Arab Chambers only recognise export documents stamped by a Chamber of Commerce – this is a significant piece of AACCI’s current operations.

The AGC operations will continue under the AACCI brand as the ‘Australia Arab Business Circle’. 

“The merged organisation looks forward to continue to deliver high-level commercial outcomes for our partners and members,” Mr Jabbour said. “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.”

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