Joseph Assaf, ‘Emigranten zijn waardevol’
Abstract
Article on emigration to Australia and the multicultural society
Translation
Joseph Assaf, ‘Emigrants are valuable’
by Wabe Roskam
A link between government and ethnic groups has been maintained since 1977 by ‘Ethnic Communications’. A company specialising in marketing, advertising, and promotion. The ‘Age Pension News’ in this newspaper is an example of this. “Informing the government about migrant education and marketing within the ethnic groups,” said Joseph Assaf, director and founder of Ethnic Comm., are important.
Joseph came to Australia from Lebanon in 1967. Trained in various languages and marketing, Assaf started working for Medibank. After a few years, he started his own business. His knowledge of languages and his view on business took him all over the world as a representative and negotiator.
‘In Australia, we now work with a network of researchers,’ says Joseph. “This is very important to know your market.’ Assaf has a clear opinion about emigration and the economy ‘People are inexperienced and only look at short-term profit. The migrant is rather easily blamed when the economy is not doing well. It has been proven that with a lot of emigration, there is little unemployment. Little emigration and you have many unemployed. Emigrants have their own needs and wishes, and that creates work.
Just look at the Italians. They brought their own pasta. Now everyone eats pasta, it is made and exported here. Even to Italy,’ says Assaf. He continues enthusiastically: ‘In business, people should also make more use of the emigrant. When you do business with, for example, the Netherlands, you have to make of use a Dutch migrant. He knows Australia and speaks the language of the country you do business with. And that is a very important link in good business.’ ‘Take it or leave it’, according to Joseph Assaf, is not a good way to do business. ‘You shouldn’t just look at what we have but produce what the world wants.’ ‘Is competition with Asia possible?’, we ask. ‘Yes,’ says Joseph. ‘The Japanese already earn mo…
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by Wabe Roskam
A link between government and ethnic groups has been maintained since 1977 by ‘Ethnic Communications’. A company specialising in marketing, advertising, and promotion. The ‘Age Pension News’ in this newspaper is an example of this. “Informing the government about migrant education and marketing within the ethnic groups,” said Joseph Assaf, director and founder of Ethnic Comm., are important.
Joseph came to Australia from Lebanon in 1967. Trained in various languages and marketing, Assaf started working for Medibank. After a few years, he started his own business. His knowledge of languages and his view on business took him all over the world as a representative and negotiator.
‘In Australia, we now work with a network of researchers,’ says Joseph. “This is very important to know your market.’ Assaf has a clear opinion about emigration and the economy ‘People are inexperienced and only look at short-term profit. The migrant is rather easily blamed when the economy is not doing well. It has been proven that with a lot of emigration, there is little unemployment. Little emigration and you have many unemployed. Emigrants have their own needs and wishes, and that creates work.
Just look at the Italians. They brought their own pasta. Now everyone eats pasta, it is made and exported here. Even to Italy,’ says Assaf. He continues enthusiastically: ‘In business, people should also make more use of the emigrant. When you do business with, for example, the Netherlands, you have to make of use a Dutch migrant. He knows Australia and speaks the language of the country you do business with. And that is a very important link in good business.’ ‘Take it or leave it’, according to Joseph Assaf, is not a good way to do business. ‘You shouldn’t just look at what we have but produce what the world wants.’ ‘Is competition with Asia possible?’, we ask. ‘Yes,’ says Joseph. ‘The Japanese already earn mo…
| Date |
1992-10-05 |
| Transcription |
Joseph Assaf, ‘Emigranten zijn waardevol’ Door Wabe Roskam Een schakel tussen regering en ethnische groeperingen wordt sinds 1977 onderhouden door ‘Ethnic Communications’. Een bedrijf dat zich specialiseert in marketing, adverteren en promoten. Het ‘Age Pension News’ in deze krant is daar een voorbeeld van. ‘Het informeren van de regering omtrent voorlichting van emigranten en het marketen binnen de ethnische groepen’, zijn volgens Joseph Assaf, directeur en oprichter van Ethnic Comm., belangrijk. Joseph kwam in 1967 naar Australië vanuit Libanon. Opgeleid in diverse talen en marketing begon Assaf te werken voor Medibank. Na enkele jaren begon hij voor zichzelf. Zijn talenkennis en kijk op zaken brachten hem als vertegenwoordiger en onderhandelaar over de gehele wereld. ‘In Australia werken we nu met een netwerk van onderzoekers,’ zegt Joseph. ‘Dit is erg belangrijk om je markt te kennen.’ Assaf heeft een duidelijke mening omtrent emigratie en economie ‘Men is onervaren en kijkt alleen naar profijt maken op korte termijn. De emigrant krijgt nogal gemakkelijk de schuld als de economie niet goed gaat. Bewezen is dat er bij veel emigratie weinig werkloosheid heerst. Weinig emigratie en je hebt veel werklozen. Emigranten hebben hun eigen behoeften en wensen, en dat creëert werk. Kijk maar naar de Italianen. Ze brachten hun eigen pasta mee. Nu eet iedereen pasta, het wordt hier gemaakt en geëxporteerd. Zelfs naar Italië,’ aldus Assaf. Enthousiast gaat hij verder: ‘In business zou men ook meer gebruik moeten maken van de emigrant. Wanneer je zaken doet met b.v. Nederland, moet je daar bij een Nederlandse emigrant inzetten. Deze kent Australie en spreekt de taal van het land waar je zaken mee doet. En dat is een heel belangrijke schakel in goed zaken doen.’ ‘Take it or leave it’, is volgens Joseph Assaf geen goede manier om zaken te doen. ‘Je moet niet alleen kijken naar wat we hebben, maar produceren wat de wereld wil.’ ‘Is competitie met Azië mogelijk?’, vragen wij. ‘Jazeker’, stelt Joseph. ‘De Japanners verdienen gemiddeld al meer dan ons. We moeten hier meer naar succes streven en de produktie op voeren. Hoe ziet Assaf de toekomst van de emigranten? ‘Ik wil niet echt meer spreken van migratie, maar van multiculturisme’ aldus Joseph. ‘Bepaalde invloeden van de vele migranten en nostalgische gevoelens zullen altijd blijven bestaan. Natuurlijk zijn er altijd verschillen tussen de diverse culturen. Italianen en Grieken o.a. kopen graag eerst een huis. Vietnamezen die naar hier komen willen zo snel mogelijk een auto en video.’ Hoe denkt de directeur van Ethnic Comm. over het remigreren naar eigen land? ‘Moeilijk. Zelf ben je erg veranderd in die jaren, en dat geldt ook voor de mensen en situatie in je moederland. Nee, teruggaan is niet zo gemakkelijk,’ besluit Joseph Assaf. |
| Subject | |
| Category | |
| Author |
Wabe Roskam |
| Publisher |
Windmill Publishers |
| Keywords |
multiculturalism |
| Current holder | |
| Access rights |
Digitised |
| Country of origin | |
| Language | |
| Physical format |
Newspapers |
| Related resources | |
| Date accessed |
2023-05-01 |
| Related Newspaper |
Dutch Australian Weekly |
| Place of Publication |
Sydney, NSW |
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