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Presentation and lab tour by our corporate member Sonic Healthcare

Sonic Healthcare, Berlin

On 21 October 2014, members and friends of the German Australian Business Council joined for a most fascinating evening at the premises of Sonic Healthcare in Berlin. They were welcomed by Sonic Healthcare Germany’s CEO Evangelos Kotsopoulos; Mr. Kotsopoulos delivered a presentation highlighting the state-of-the-art technology used by Sonic Healthcare in Germany. Participants learned about Sonic Healthcare’s steady growth in the past, making it the number one medical diagnostics company and the largest Australian investment in Germany. German-Australian Business Council’s patron, the Australian Ambassador to Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, H.E. Mr David Ritchie AO, greeted participants and highlighted the importance of mutual investments between Germany and Australia in his speech. In a tour through Sonic Healthcare’s recently built Berlin central laboratory, participants were fascinated by the complex interaction between information technology and medical diagnostics providing reliable, fast and most advanced medical services to doctors and patients alike. The event continued with a reception giving participants another great opportunity to network.

On details about the evening, please contact GABC board member Claas de Boer ( claas.deboer@abie-germany.de).

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ABIE Germany becomes the ‘GERMAN AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS COUNCIL’

Today the new name was recognized and Australian Business in Europe  Germany officially became the German Australian Business Council.
As organizations grow and change they often need a new look and feel that reflects these developments. Late last year the board of ABIE Germany agreed it was time the name of the group reflected the activities it undertakes. So after much discussion and voting ABIE Germany became the German Australian Business Council (GABC), a title which clearly highlights the two way nature of the organization to help German business in Australia and Australian business in Germany. GABC continues as a member of the extended European Australian Business in Europe network and feel this name change will strengthen their identity in the network as well as locally.

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ABIE Germany Oktoberfest

Bräurosl tent, Munich

On 22 September 2014, the 4th ABIE Oktoberfest Event took place, proudly sponsored by our corporate members mic AG and Telstra Global. The ABIE Germany Patron and Australian Ambassador to Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, H.E: Mr David Ritchie AO, joined the event for the first time. Together with 20 ABIE Germany members and guests he followed interesting presentations by our sponsors concerning their special businesses.

Invigorated by a Bavarian ‘Brotzeit’ everybody enjoyed the unique atmosphere at the Bräurosl tent until late at night.

mic AG and Telstra have already confirmed their willingness to sponsor the 2015 ABIE Germany Oktoberfest Event again.

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Ambassador’s Dinner 2014

Australian Embassy, Berlin

ABIE (Germany) hosted this year’s Ambassador’s Dinner at the Australian Embassy in Berlin.

More than 90 guests representing the political and the business community listened to speeches by H.E. Ambassador David Ritchie AO, Senior Trade & Investment Commissioner and Consul General David Campbell, the CEO of Scout24 Group, Greg Ellis, and ABIE (Germany) chair of the board Sabine Pittrof. The large number of participants made this year’s Ambassador’s dinner one of the biggest events organized by ABIE (Germany) so far. While the presentations all shared a common focus on Australia’s G20 presidency this year and the commercial aspects to be discussed on the B20 level (the Business 20 (B20) brings together business leaders from across G20 member countries), the speakers put different emphasis on the political implications and requirements and commercial expectations such as sustaining a necessary growth rate to support future economical stability.

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The reception in the early evening followed by a three-course set menu enabled guests to meet, be introduced to each other and to network. The table talks were very inspiring and were followed by further discussions during meetings beyond this dinner. The Atrium of the Australian Embassy Berlin was a beautiful backdrop for this event. Comments by participants were: “It was an outstanding evening” and “Great networking event”.

The support of the Australian Embassy Berlin and its staff, speakers, guests and sponsors Sonic Healthcare, TELSTRA Global, Scout24 Group and Austrade made this event a successful forum for sharing information on current commercial issues and networking.

For further information please contact ABIE (Germany) board members Claas de Boer ( claas.deboer@abie-germany.de ) or Simone Wienhausen ( simone .wienhaus simone.wienhausen@abie-germany.de )

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ABIE’s 2014 Ambassador’s Dinner in Berlin

The event will take place on Thursday, 12 June 2013, starting at 6:00 pm.
The theme of the night will be „Australia’s G20 presidency: what are the implications for business relations between Australia and Germany?”
This once-in-a-year networking event will give us an opportunity to mark the introduction of H.E. Mr David Ritchie AO, Ambassador to Germany, as our new patron.
We are further looking forward to vibrant speeches by H.E. the Ambassador and Mr. Greg Ellis, CEO of the Scout24 Group.
More information about the event and the registration please contact Susanne Schnack at office@abie-germany.de until Thursday, 29th May, the latest.
We are looking forward to seeing you there!

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Economic Update Down Under

Allen & Overy LLP, Frankfurt

On Wednesday 26th March, ABIE members and friends were provided with an Economic Update on Australia by Peter Sargent, Head of Global Loans and Transaction Banking with ANZ Banking Group.
The event was supported by Austrade, who were instrumental in securing Peter for the presentation and Allen & Overy LLP who provided one of their  Board Room’s as the venue for the event.
Peter Sargent provided an excellent overview of Australia’s current financial standing in terms of Balance of Trade, major projects – completions and those still in progress, interest rates, Consumer confidence, labour costs and opportunities for development and investment.
Peter also provided a strong perspective as to why Australia is a strong economy to invest in and why it is so well located, from a strategic point of view, to the growing markets in Asia.
Peter presented a number of interesting slides throughout his presentation and these will be available shortly on this website.

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Lunch Seminar on Frontier Communications

Kameha Suite, Frankfurt

Lunch Seminar on Frontier Communications held by Telstra Global, Austrade and Ovum.
At the exclusive setting of the Kameha Suite in Frankfurt, Telstra Global, Austrade and Ovum presented an insightful luncheon seminar on enterprise productivity in the 21st century. After an introduction given by David Campbell, Consul-General and Senior Trade & Investment Commissioner, Hugh Bradlow, CTO, Telstra Corporation presented the ten emerging technologies that are getting ready to reshape the world of corporate information and communication technology and how they will impact the business world. Richard Edwards, Principal Analyst at Ovum, followed-on with his presentation on the challenges of new technologies for the corporate world. The presentations gave rise to a lively discussion on privacy, data security and cloud computing that continued during the lunch that was served in the attractive atrium of the Kameha Suite. ABIE Germany would like to thank Telstra Global and Austrade for inviting ABIE members to this event.

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Australia Day 2014 – AUSTRADE Strategy Lunch

Villa Leonhardi, Frankfurt

This year’s Australia Day was celebrated at the beautiful Villa Leonhardi near Palmengarten with around 35 attendees. Marcus Madelung, Head of Sales Europe of our corporate member and event sponsor Telstra Global, introduced Telstra’s plans for Europe. During the delicious three-course meal, Consul-General and Senior Trade & Investment Commissioner, David Campbell presented the Austrade Strategy Update followed by the launch of the new Benchmark Report by Stefan Augustin, Country Manager – Germany, Austria, Switzerland at Austrade. Although it was not the right season to use the garden, guests were able to enjoy the beautiful views into Palmengarten during the networking. Many thanks go to corporate members Austrade and Telstra Global for their support of this event.