The Australian Business Summit Council Inc. (ABSC) hosted a Who’s Who of business leaders, diplomats, lawyers, academics, community leaders and members of the press at the 2025 ABSC Inc. Annual Gala Dinner on 2nd May 2025 at Aqua Luna Waterfront Dining, a magnificent five-star venue with spectacular water views located in Drummoyne, New South Wales.
The event was held to formally launch the sixth issue of the Council’s business affairs magazine, EKONOMOS, with its incisive, penetrating appraisals of the current trends and forces that impact on economic growth by authoritative expert figures in the areas of business, trade, and investment drawn from the Australian and international communities.
ABSC Inc. president for the sixth consecutive year, Dr. Frank Alafaci PhD welcomed more than 250 eminent VIPs, dignitaries and other guests to this annual signature event, including H.E. Dr. Siswo Pramono (Ambassador of Indonesia); H.E. Mr. Beka Dvali (Ambassador of Georgia); H.E. Mr. Encho Dimitrov (Ambassador of Bulgaria); H.E. Mr. Kemal Muftic (Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina); H.E. Ms. Arjaree Sriratanaban (Ambassador of Thailand); H.E. Mr. Ernesto Cespedes Oropeza (Ambassador of Mexico); H.E. Mr. Diego Felipe Cadena Montenegro (Ambassador of Colombia); H.E. Dr. Tanieris Dueguez La O (Ambassador of Cuba); H.E. Ms. Carolina Molina Barrantes (Ambassador of Costa Rica); H.E. Mr. Joe Tapera Mhishi (Ambassador of Zimbabwe); H.E. Dr. Wilson Kogo (High Commissioner of Kenya); H.E. Ms. Dorothy Samahi Hyuha (High Commissioner of Uganda); H.E. Dr. Elias Munshya (High Commissioner of Zambia); H.E. Mr. John Ma’o Kali (High Commissioner of Papua New Guinea); Mr. Ahmed Abdelatif (Charge d’Affaires, Embassy of Sudan); Mr. Vagif Jafarov (Charge d’Affaires, Embassy of Azerbaijan); Mr. Patrick Muganda (Deputy High Commissioner of Uganda); Mr. Anwar Muktar Mohammed (Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Ethiopia); Mrs. Milena Alexandra Simoes de Gonzaga Soares Abrantes (Consul General of Timor-Leste); Mr. Qamar Zaman (Consul General of Pakistan); Mrs. Anneliese Sammut (Consul General of Malta); Mrs. Zuzana Slováková (Consul General of the Czech Republic); Ms. Charmaine Aviquivil (Consul General of the Philippines); Mr. Kihwan Kim (Consul, Consulate General of the Republic of Korea); Ms. Chloe Quintin (Consul, Consulate General of France); Mr. Jan Krivos (Consul, Consulate General of the Czech Republic); Ms. Nurfika Wijayanti (Consul, Consulate General of Indonesia); Ms. Andita Putri Purnama (Consul, Commercial Affairs, Consulate General of Indonesia); Mrs. Simona Bernardini (Vice Consul / Director, Italian Trade Agency, Consulate General of Italy); Mr. Yavuz Gokcayir (Vice Consul / Commercial Attache’, Consulate General of Turkey); Mr. Joseph Biedlingmeier (Chief, Global Affairs, Consulate General of the United States of America); Mr. Jason Gould (Global Affairs Officer, Consulate General of the United States of America); Mr. Steve Knode (Senior Commercial Officer / Commercial Counsellor, Consulate General of the United States of America); Mr. David Cheng-Wei Wu (Director General, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office); Mr. Chang Eun Park (Director General, Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency Sydney); Dr. Stepan Kerkyasharian AO (Deputy Chair, National Australia Day Council); Mr. Michael Azzi (President, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce); Mr. Hakan Evecek (President, MUSIAD Sydney); Mr. Wally Mehanna (CEO, Canterbury Bankstown Chamber of Commerce); Mr. Richard Yuan (Chairman, Australia China Entrepreneurs Club); Mr. David Zhang (Honorary Director, Australia Dongbei Chinese Chamber of Commerce); Mr. Morris Licata (President, Club Marconi); Mr. Paul Bloxham (Chief Economist for Australia and New Zealand, HSBC); Mr. Michael Rizk OAM (Head of Trade Relations, Australian Lebanese Chamber of Commerce); Mr. Garry Simonian (Owner / Managing Director, Platinum Restaurant Group); Councillor Michelle Chuang (City of Willoughby); Councillor Mas Meuross (City of Canada Bay); and Councillor Sylvia Alafaci (City of Canada Bay / Secretary, ABSC Inc.).
Dr Frank Alafaci PhD commended the ABSC Inc. as a leading management consulting forum of high profile, experienced and well-connected business professionals who possess the long-term vision, practical experience and high-level skills for the development of sound business policies and measures to promote a vibrant and sustainable economy, enabling business leaders to network and identify opportunities in Australia and abroad, and stimulating informative debates and discussions on issues pertaining to economic relations between our nation and the international community.
Under his leadership, the Council has expanded rapidly to augment its influence and pervasiveness within the domestic market and international community by actively promoting business, investment and innovation into high value-added and technologically advanced sectors and industries, and assisting small, medium-sized and large businesses to further multilateral business relationships through seminars, conferences, partnerships, EXPOs, memoranda of understanding, trade delegations, negotiations with political and business leaders, and participation in national and international economic roundtables.
The keynote speaker at the Annual Gala Dinner, Mr. Paul Bloxham, Chief Economist for HSBC in Australia and New Zealand addressed the audience on the current state of the global economic landscape and future developments in uncertain times with his experience as an economist for twelve years at the Reserve Bank of Australia where he headed up the overseas economies and financial conditions sections of that institution, sharing his robust views and enlightened forecasts about the emerging trends and opportunities for the Australian economy and its interactions with international financial markets, as well as answering questions from several members of the audience relating to a wide range of business, trade and investment-related issues.
In-between the formalities, the Annual Gala Dinner featured two brilliant musical artists, Mr. Jiwhan Son, a Korean-born professional operatic tenor from Opera Australia who entertained the attendees gathered for the occasion with four spell-binding renditions of famous operatic arias of the Italian ‘bel canto’ style, and the young, precociously talented violinist Mr. Yue Zheng, originally from the People’s Republic of China, performing two renowned classical Spanish compositions.
Officially launching EKONOMOS, Issue 6, 2025, a veritable tour de force that covers an extensive gamut of matters relating to business, trade and investment with our established regional and extra-regional partners and hitherto undervalued international markets, Dr. Frank Alafaci PhD presented a special commemorative plaque during a formal conferral of awards ceremony to each of the article contributors to the magazine who were present at the Annual Gala Dinner: H.E. Dr. Siswo Pramono (Ambassador of Indonesia); H.E. Mr. Beka Dvali (Ambassador of Georgia); H.E. Dr. Tanieris Dieguez La O (Ambassador of Cuba); H.E. Dr. Wilson Kogo (High Commissioner of Kenya); H.E. Dr. Elias Munshya (High Commissioner of Zambia); Mr. Qamar Zaman (Consul General of Pakistan); Mr. David Cheng-Wei Wu (Director General, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office); H.E. Ms. Carolina Molina Barrantes on behalf of Ms. Indiana Trejos Gallo (Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade / President of the National Trade Facilitation Council of Costa Rica); Ms. Simona Bernardini (Vice Consul / Director, Italian Trade Agency, Consulate General of Italy); Mr. Richard Yuan (Chairman, Australia China Entrepreneurs Club); Mr. Michael Short (Partner, Madison Marcus); Mr. Bob Croft (Director, EZMarketing Pty Ltd); Mr. Scott Qin (General Manager, Patricia Holdings); and Ms. Nerva Kay Ghamraoui (Managing Director, Katalyst Construction Pty Ltd).
Likewise, the ABSC Inc. president formally acknowledged and presented the six sponsors (Alliance Project Group; Arab Bank Australia Ltd; Drs. ABCD First Aid Training; Trade Window; Serenade Leather; and Greenstone Vineyards) with their own commemorative plaques for their generous financial contributions to making the Annual Gala Dinner and the sixth issue of the ABSC Inc.‘s business affairs magazine possible.
Dr. Frank Alafaci PhD formally concluded the exclusive Annual Gala Dinner with his acknowledgement of the support provided by the Board of Directors of the Australian Business Summit Council Inc., especially Councillor Sylvia Alafaci (City of Canada Bay / Secretary, ABSC Inc.) for her incredible devotion to organising this event, selecting the magnificent five-star reception centre, sending out most of the invitations, preparing the table arrangements and decorations, and liaising with the Aqua Luna Waterfront Dining events management team led by Ms. Anna Finini, to whom the Council owes a special debt of gratitude for their kindness, patience and impeccable professionalism, as well as Mr. Conrad Caburian, his wife Betsy, Mr. Phillip Sun and his son Gerard, and Mr. Lee Alafaci and his son Domenic for their assistance in preparing the venue for this unforgettable Annual Gala Dinner.
