14th Australia New Caledonia Business Forum

Mr Gary Clifford is President, Australia Pacific Islands Business Council. Gary is the founder and managing director of Pacific Air Express, the south pacific region’s first international cargo airline. Pacific Air Express has provided scheduled and charter freighter services linking the Solomon Islands, PNG, Vanuatu, Nauru and other pacific islands with Australia since 1993, and presently uses Boeing 737 freighter aircraft for this work, together with two recently acquired long range Boeing 757 freighter aircraft which will enable pacific islands exporters to connect with the vast China market via Brisbane. Gary went to the Solomons in 1984 as a young pilot, and has over 7000 hours logged flying in Solomon Islands and connecting international routes. Gary has dedicated his time and energy to providing a product that allows transport by air that caters to overlength, oversized and overweight items that would usually require the services of other modes of transport. Gary has assisted in developing access to rural areas by also participating in planning and building basic airfields to allow smaller aircraft access to remote areas. With 30 years plus in the region, Gary has embraced a passion in investing into the people and empowering them to building a better future, by being able to provide opportunity through this unique product and service to the community and their businesses. These days his time is spent managing the airline and developing new air freight routes in the region.

Mr Wilson is a career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and has been Australia’s Consul-General in Noumea with Accreditation to New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna, as well as Australia’s Representative to the Pacific Communitiy (SPC), since June 2015.

Mr Wilson has served as Australia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations and the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva; as First Secretary at the Australian Embassy in Paris; and as a member of the Peace Monitoring Group in Bougainville.

Mr Wilson holds a Bachelor of Arts in Latin and a Bachelor of Mathematics in Pure Mathematics from the University of Newcastle. As a Canadian Commonwealth Scholar, he completed a Master of Arts in Greek and Roman Studies from the University of Victoria, Canada. Mr Wilson speaks French.

Antoine Chery is Minister Counsellor at the French Embassy in Australia and head of the French Regional Economic Service for Australia and the South Pacific. An alumnus of Sciences Po Paris and ENA, he joined the French Treasury in 1995. He has specialized in trade and international economics affairs and held multiple positions in France and abroad, the latest of which being Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in charge of emerging economies, and head of the Regional Economic Service for Asean countries, based in Singapore.

Brian works in the capital works and infrastructure industry, focusing on strategy implementation, policy-setting, and process improvement initiatives. He has held general management and advisory roles at Queensland’s three integrated LNG projects, and consulted on projects across Australia and Europe, where he built a track record of delivery internationally. In doing so, he has led projects ranging from multi $100m infrastructure subprojects, $1m change projects in cross-border organisations, to tactical consulting assignments.

Brian is currently a director at Euroz Group, an advisory company, sits on the Brisbane Lord Mayor’s Multicultural Business Roundtable, lectures in business process management at the University of Queensland’s business school, mentors early stage company leaders, and is President of the French-Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Queensland. His past external roles include lead MIS lecturer at ESCP Europe’s MBA in London, and Chairman of the Lansdowne Club in Queensland.

Denise Fisher is Visiting Fellow at the ANU Centre for European Studies writing on the France in the Pacific and related strategic issues. Her book France in the South Pacific: power and politics was published by ANU press in 2013, and she writes for the Lowy Institute’s Interpreter and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s The Strategist. A former senior Australian diplomat, she has served in Burma, Kenya, India, and Malaysia before appointments as Political Counsellor in Washington, Australian High Commissioner in Zimbabwe and Australian Consul-General in Noumea.

Alban Goullet Allard, graduated from international Bachelor from the Chamber of commerce Learning School of Noumea, began his career as a businessman in the renewable energy sector in France.
Later he became export manager at Sun-Ray company, where he developed export in 20 countries in the world.
In 2015, he became manager of New Caledonia Trade & Invest with 10 members at the creation of the association. In three years, he achieved to develop an international network. Today, NCT&I has about 130 members and partners.

Adrian Weeks is the Australian Trade Commissions Trade Commissioner, Pacific. He is based in Brisbane and is responsible for New Caledonia.

Adrian is responsible for key relationships with Australian businesses, government departments and industry associations that operate or have an interest in these markets.

In this role Adrian works closely with Austrade’s trade, investment and education teams, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Australia Pacific Islands Business Council. The main sectors of focus are mining and technology services, food and agriculture, infrastructure and energy, education and training.

Adrian has undertaken short term assignments in India and Thailand.

Prior to Austrade Adrian held business development positions with Tourism Australia for twelve years based in London, Los Angeles and Sydney. He also worked for the transport company Queensland Rail and Tourism Queensland.

Adrian has a Masters of Business Administration from Griffith University.

Denis has been the Managing Director of BlueScope Acier New Caledonia since 1986. He has also been the Chief Executive Officer of BlueScope Lysaght Vanuatu since 1993, with 72 employees across New Caledonia and Vanuatu. In 1987 Denis became a member of the French Council of Foreign Trade and since 2007 he has been the President of the New Caledonia branch and Vice President for the Asia and Pacific region. 

As Vice President of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council since 2000, Denis shares his knowledge and pioneering ideas in management, the local economy and building industry. Denis also holds the office of President for SITNC and Federation of the Industrial companies in New Caledonia (FINC) and is the Vice President of the New Caledonia Chamber of Commerce and Industry.