From the desk of the General Manager
Elisabeth Kerdelhué

There has never been a better time to join FACCI.

As the colours of summer rapidly fade away and many are mopping up after the wild storm that hit Melbourne and parts of Victoria last Saturday, our team has been busy adding the final touches to our 2010 programme - organising membership renewal, engaging with new members, improving our communication tools and developing new partnerships.

After a difficult 2009 we are quite upbeat about the year ahead. As we continue our mission to strengthen commercial links between France and Australia and be the voice of the local French-Australian business community, our focus will be on delivering value for money to all members. We represent companies of all sizes, from the large French subsidiaries and Australian companies to the many small and medium size businesses driving economic growth, individual members and the ever expanding group of enthusiastic Young Professionals.

In order to offer more benefits and give more visibility to all members, we have implemented a national membership scheme. With an increased presence in four states and as the natural vehicle to support a dynamic and growing French-Australian business community, the new national membership has significantly expanded our offering with a number of incentives and special offers introduced to encourage new members to join as well as more networking opportunities.

In this issue of E-news we profile Michel Ulrich, the head of the Melbourne desalination project, we introduce the 28 members who have recently joined FACCI and we also give you an “avant-gout” of what our Wine & Dine members will be offering during this year’s Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.

Next week we welcome Minister Tim Pallas who will talk about the future of major projects in Victoria at a business luncheon hosted at Ernst & Young. Later in the month we will host a welcome cocktail party for new members. April will see the return of our much anticipated golf rendez-vous at Kingston Heath Golf Club. So start practising your swing now!

We look forward to your engagement and support of our activities in 2010.

In the meantime, continue to live life in bleu, blanc, rouge!

Bien cordialement,

Elisabeth Kerdelhué