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Australia-Germany Advisory Group

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The Prime Minister of Australia and the German Chancellor have announced the membership of the newly created Australia-Germany Advisory Group. The purpose of the group is to examine ways to build even closer ties between Australia and Germany and was set up during Chancellor Merkel’s visit to Australia for the G20 Summit and bilateral meetings last November.

Australian Senator Mathias Cormann will co-chair the Advisory Group and lead the Australian members, who hold collectively significant experience in business, academia, science, government and the arts and German Minister of State Professor Maria Böhmer will be Germany’s co-chair.

The Group will meet in Germany and in Australia before finalising and providing a report to Chancellor Merkel and the Prime Minister later this year.

Full list of members:

  • Mr Michael Chaney AO Chairman, National Australia Bank
  • Mr Jeff Connolly, CEO, Siemens Australia
  • Mr Peter Jennings PSM, Executive Director, Australian Strategic Policy Institute
  • Dr Nicholas Milton, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, Canberra Symphony OrchestraConductor, General Music Director, Saarländisches Staatstheater
  • Professor Brian Schmidt AC, Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University
  • Ms Lucy Turnbull AO, President, German-Australian Chamber of Industry and Commerce
  • Mr David Ritchie AOAustralian Ambassador to Germany
  • Professor Dr. Maria Böhmer, Minister of State, Federal Foreign Office
  • Mr. Volkmar Klein, Member of the Bundestag and Chair of the Germany-Australian Parliamentary Friendship Group
  • Mr Barrie Kosky, Intendant (Director) of the Komische Oper Berlin#
  • Mr Bernd Leuker, Member of the Executive Board and the Global Management Board of SAP
  • Professor Dr. Volker PerthesDirector, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik
  • Professor Anja SchwarzJunior Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of PotsdamDr.
  • Christoph Müller, German Ambassador to Australia

 

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Investment Destination Australia

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The 2015 Benchmark Report has been launched by the Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb at Australia Business Week in India.

Produced by the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade), the annual report presents key economic, financial and demographic data to highlight Australia’s competitive strengths as a major player in global trade and investment.

Speaking at the inaugural Australia India Business Summit in New Delhi, Mr Robb said, ‘Behind Australia’s commercial strengths is a great economic and social story.

‘The Benchmark Report contains some of the best measures of why Australia is such a good economic partner and an ideal investment destination.’

Australia offers international investors a combination of solid economic performance, a highly skilled workforce, legal and political stability, and growing business and cultural ties to Asia.

The country is entering its 24th year of uninterrupted annual economic growth and its average annual real GDP growth between 2015 and 2019 is expected to be the highest among major advanced economies. Its services sector generates more than 80 per cent of its economic output.

New to the 2015 edition is a set of charts that provides snapshots of Australia’s five globally significant industries – agribusiness, education, funds management, resources and energy, and tourism.

The report also highlights Australia’s advanced research and innovation capabilities; educated and multicultural workforce; trade, investment and cultural links within the fast-growing Asian region; stable, transparent and well-regulated business environment; and sophisticated financial sector.

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Graphene in Germany

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Australian graphite company Talga Resources has announced that it will set up a graphene demonstration
plant in the German state of Thüringen. The plant will process ores from Sweden.

Graphene is a so-called allotrope of carbon which has the form of a two-dimension hexagonal lattice. It was invented by two researchers at the University of Manchester in the UK, who jointly won the Nobel prize for Physics.

The material has already been used in a number of electronics applications and is thought to have a large variety of uses, which are currently being investigated around the world.

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Waste Management Down Under

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A recent report on Germany Trade and Invest website discusses the issues on waste management in Australia. The OECD states that Australia is the seventh largest producer of refuse/trash per head of population. Further details can be found in German on GTAI’s website here.

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Waste Management Down Under

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A recent report on Germany Trade and Invest website discusses the issues on refuse management in Australia. The OECD states that Australia is the seventh largest producer of refuse/trash per head of population. Further details can be found in German on GTAI’s website here.

Emirates to serve Düsseldorf

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Emirates has announced new flights to Düsseldorf that will connect through to Australian destinations. As of 1st July, EK055 will be operated by an A380, leaving Dubai at 0830hrs and landing in Dusseldorf at 1325hrs the same day, while EK056 will depart Dusseldorf at 1525hrs and arrive at Dubai International Airport at 2355hrs the same day.

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Australia and New Zealand – soon one patent system

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The Australian Parliament passed the Intellectual Property Laws amendment bill on 9 February 2015. Its major feature of interest to German exporters will be the establishment of a joint Trans-Tasman regime with New Zealand to have a single application and examination process for both countries. The Governor General still has to sign the bill and, as New Zealand have already amended their laws examination should begin soon.

Local Australian pharmaceutical companies may also be able to benefit from a new provision allowing the grant of a compulsory license to a patent to supply countries suffering a health crisis. This implements an obligation that Australia has under the World Trade Organisation rules.

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Bavaria Australia Day 30 January 2015

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Whether they are impressed by the state’s strength in R&D or its high-tech locations, Bavaria offers lots of benefits for innovative Australian companies and useful support as they expand internationally.
The OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2013 ranks Australia among the world’s leading countries when it comes to innovation. It provides an innovative environment for innovative companies thanks to strong protection of intellectual property, a high-quality IT infrastructure, a high level of R&D investment and generous R&D funding. Despite this, the domestic market is relatively small, so interested companies have to expand in order to remain successful. This is where Bavaria comes in – as a compatible location for Australia’s strengths.

The first step in this direction came in the form of a festive evening– with a relaxed atmosphere and wonderful food – held on 30th January in cooperation with the German Australian Business Council (GABC) to celebrate Australia Day. It was an opportunity to make useful contacts in the existing community and allow the participants to network with one another.

In future, Invest in Bavaria will be working with the GABC even more intensively in order to guarantee the greatest possible benefits for both sides, to support the existing Australian community and to expand it by attracting more new companies to the state.

Invest in Bavaria is looking forward to the cooperation between Australia and Bavaria and would like to thank all participants for coming to its first Australia-focused event in such great numbers.

Susanne Schierok – Invest in Bavaria

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German Australian Business Council Re-launch and Australia Day Dinner

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Adina Apartment Hotel Frankfurt Neue Oper

The weather may not have been a reflection of that experienced by the First Fleet landing in Australia on 26th January 1788 but the weather failed to dampen the enthusiasm of those attending the German Australian Business Council Re-launch and Australia Day event in Frankfurt 227 years later.
As the guests arrived at the Adina Apartment Hotel Frankfurt Neue Oper, the German Australian Business Council Board Members and Daniel Goihl from Zeitgeister Design & Kreativagentur had their fingers crossed as we prepared to launch the new German Australian Business Council website in front of a number of our Members, Friends and distinguished guests. Sabine Pittrof, Chair of the Board welcomed the guests and then handed over to our Guest Speaker for the evening, Greg Ellis, CEO of Scout 24. Greg has been involved in internet development and marketing since its beginnings back in the 1990’s. Greg commended the German Australian Business Council for creating a more user friendly and interactive website. Greg then “pushed the button” and the countdown to the new website began. At first we all held our breath; then exhaled and finally applauded as the website “went live” and we were taken through a tour to experience the new look and reinvigorated outlook of the German Australian Business Council.
The guests then moved to the Restaurant to continue networking and enjoy a buffet dinner reflecting an Australian influence. Unfortunately Mr David Ritche AO, the Australian Ambassador who was scheduled to speak at the dinner was unable to attend, but he did forward a message which Sabine Pittrof read when making her speech at the dinner.
It was great to see so many new members and some first time attendees at the event and we hope to see you in the near future at our upcoming events.

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Letter from the Chair

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Dear Members and Friends of our Association,

The tag I used for 2013 in the last End of Year Message, was “change”. Change continued to be a defining feature for our association in 2014, the major change, of course, being that of our name to “German Australian Business Council e.V.”. Aside from this, we elected a new board, welcomed our new Patron and also introduced a refreshed strategy. What has not changed though is our continued focus on providing our members and friends with high quality events across Germany. This included an increase in events in the Berlin region.

We started off the year with an Australia Day lunch at Frankfurt, supported by corporate member Telstra, followed by an event with Telstra’s CTO, Dr. Hugh Bradlow, to which members of our association were invited. Our signature event, the Annual Ambassador’s Dinner, took place in Berlin in June and marked the welcome of H.E. David Ritchie AO, as Patron of our association. The event was supported by corporate members Austrade, Sonic Healthcare, Telstra and Scout24. The highlight event for Frankfurt in the past year would certainly have been the new edition of the Melbourne Cup Event, which was attended by approx. 150 people and took place at the Adina Apartment Hotel with support from corporate member Melbourne Business School, sponsors Tourism Victoria, Emirates, Victorian Racing Club and many other eminent businesses. The key event in the Munich region was certainly the German Australian Business and Technology Forum organized by Austrade with our association as one of the partners. Further prominent business events were a presentation by Peter Sargent from ANZ in Frankfurt, a lunch seminar with Johann Mittermayer from Woolmark, also in Frankfurt,,a networking event showcasing Sonic Healthcare’s outstanding cutting-edge medical laboratory in Berlin and the annual Oktoberfest Event in Munich sponsored by long-time corporate member mic AG, who were again joined by corporate member Telstra.

A preliminary events calendar for 2015 has already been prepared by the board and will again feature our signature events Australia Day, the Ambassador’s Dinner and the Melbourne Cup Event, together with many others showcasing various industries. The Australia Day Event in Frankfurt on 26th January 2015 will also mark the re-launch of our association as the German Australian Business Council. The 2015 Ambassador’s Dinner will again be held at Frankfurt in the week commencing 8 June 2015, with the Melbourne Cup event taking place on 3rd November 2015.

On the international side, there is increasing combined effort to expand the network and leverage off each other’s business connections. We are looking at introducing a joint newsletter and a joint landing page. 2015 will also mark the first pan-European event, scheduled to take place at the European Parliament at Brussels in April. The international group is rapidly expanding with Greece, Switzerland and the Czech Republic having joined the group and a prospect for revival in Denmark and perhaps Luxemburg.

The start of a year is always an opportunity to say thank you for all the support our association has received from various sources. First and foremost, I would like to thank you as our members and friends for the support you have given us over the past year, in particular with respect to implementing the changes that the board had envisaged in order to take our association to the next level of growth.

I would like to thank my fellow board members, who have fulfilled their various roles with much enthusiasm and great dedication. While all board members deserve praise, I would like to direct a very special thank you to Catherine Stephen for enormous efforts in organizing Frankfurt events, Deputy Chair Elisabeth Opie for guiding us through the process of the strategy refresh, Roanne Yee and Penelope Richardson for taking on the enormous task of rebranding as the German Australian Business Council and overseeing the overhaul of the website, Rob Harrison for giving the newsletter a new outfit, Eberhard Goihl for tireless administrative work in the background and Claas de Boer and Simone Wienhausen for firmly grounding the presence of our association in Berlin.

I would also like to thank those who have supported us from an administrative point of view, namely Susanne Schnack, our office, and my P.A. Jacqueline Fehse, for all-round admin support regarding events and more. Susanne, who has been our office for the last 1.5 years and has done a splendid job looking after our accounts and administrating events, has decided to move on to an (almost) full-time job and will conclude her role with the German Australian Business Council in early January. We are sad to see her go and I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank her for excellent work for the German Australian Business Council and wish her well in her future role

Sabine Pittrof (Chair of the board)