Sakib Awan appointed Australian Business Champion for Timor-Leste

At the ASEAN50 Special Summit in Melbourne, Chair and Founder of East Timor Trading, Mr Sakib Awan, is appointed Australian Business Champion for Timor-Leste by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

‘I thank Prime Minister Albanese for this great honour.’ Says Mr Awan of his appointment,

‘I am wholeheartedly committed to doing what I can to help promote Australian business engagement in Timor-Leste. I see my role as Business Champion to speak widely about how much Timor-Leste has to offer Australian business – and how much Australian businesses have to offer Timor-Leste and the Timorese people. This is an extremely exciting announcement, and I am honoured and humbled to be chosen.’

The Champions initiative arose from a report by Nicholas Moore AO for the Australian Government titled: Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040. As a report in today’s Australian Financial Review, “Top CEOs named as business champions for South-East Asia”, says about the appointment: “The business champions, whose role is to ensure ‘government and business work in tandem to deepen regional economic engagement’ … is one of five of Mr Moore’s recommendations being adopted at the Melbourne summit.”

This is a significant day for Timor-Leste and its place in the region and particularly bodes well for Timor-Leste’s accession to ASEAN, given the announcement was made at the Melbourne ASEAN50 Special Summit. It is also a proud day for East Timor Trading and a testament to the esteemed position Mr Awan has in the regional business world.

Photo: Mr Sakib Awan, Nur Rahman (Brunei), Australian Treasurer Dr Jim Chalmers, Louise Adams (Vietnam), Charles Olsson, (Laos), Prime Minister Albanese.