New trade

commissioner takes up office

By Sophie Foster

Austrade has a new Trade Commissioner for the Pacific Islands.

He is Mark Levings, who took up his appointment in late

January.

Levings has been with Austrade for the past 11 years and comes to Fiji from Queensland where he was regional manag er.

Levings says one of the reasons he was

appointed was

because of similari ties between Queensland and most Pacific islands in terms of climate, crops, and nature of

industry.

Austrade’s main focus, he says, will be

to encourage face-to-face contact between Australian exporters and Pacific Island importers, especially at the small enter prise level.

Such exporters are a lot more comfort able dealing with the Pacific, he says, because of proximity and the relative ease of doing business here.

Levings says that Austrade, through its regional manager network, identifies sev eral thousand new exporters each year.

“We want Pacific Island importers to know that many new Australian exporters are keen to do business in the Pacific, and

Austrade can help to put the two parties together.”

Austrade was continually updating its database on Australian exporters and potential exporters, as well as re-evaluat ing Pacific mar

kets, Levings says.

“The nature of demand is such that it is constant ly changing, and for our part we will be out there (in the market place) keeping abreast of these changes.”

Levings is a grad uate of Griffith University in Queensland with a Bachelor of Administration majoring in eco nomics.

He speaks intermediate Korean, which he studied for three years.

He has experience in areas relevant to the Pacific including as project manager for Australian sugar technology exports, in Austrade’s horticulture section in Melbourne, and involvement in the export of Australian education services.

Levings term' as trade commissioner will run to the middle of 1996, when he returns to his position as regional manager for South Queensland, and a senior trade commissioner will be appointed to replace him. ■

Mark Levings: Trade commissioner Pacific Islands