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AfterPay Australia becomes ClearPay in the UK

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Australian-based Afterpay has had to re-brand itself ClearPay for its launch into the European marketplace. Its brand name “Afterpay” was already taken by a Dutch company and the Australian company’s trade mark registration was opposed, according to a story AfterPay Logoin the Sydney Morning Herald. The two services are similar – both intending to enable online shopping to be simpler and safer. They differ in that the Australian company’s service enables instalment payments – similar to the traditional “layby” schemes – whereas the Arvato enables post-payment of purchased goods.

Afterpay will use its arrow logo across the different markets and hopes that this will provide the necessary brand recognition.

The case shows the importance for Australian companies of getting trade mark registrations in place early in all potential future markets to ensure that there is no need to re-brand. In this case, Afterpay had an alternative name available to it in the UK that it could use. However, alternative brands are not always easily available and it’s important to get trademark registrations in place early. Merely putting a domain name in place is unlikely to be sufficient – at the latest when a competitor files for its own similar or identical trademark.

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GABC represented on Deutsche Welle’s Business Programs

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The German Australian Business Council was represented on Deutsche Welle’s Business and Business Asia Programs on the 17th of May 2019 by Board Chair, Sabine Pittrof. A variety of topics such as renewable energy, the Australian election and the upcoming Australian-EU Free Trade agreement were discussed.

 

 

A link to the full interviews can be found below:

https://www.dw.com/en/dw-business-europe/av-48772457

https://www.dw.com/en/dw-business-asia/av-48778957

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ABIE International Networking meeting, Sofia 03./04. May 2019

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On the 3rd and 4th of May, 2019, representatives of the ABIE groups met in Sofia to discuss how to further improve their collaboration in terms of activities and events. The meeting was organized by BABC (Bulgaria) with participants coming from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Spain and the UK. The European-Australian Business Council, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands participated via telephone.

Andrea Biggi, Deputy Head of Mission from the Australian Embassy in Athens, joined the dinner on Friday and the full meeting on Saturday to discuss the EU-AUS Free Trade Agreement, which is still in the negotiation phase. ABIE groups were asked to give their country-specific input to the team. A common submission from all ABIE groups is planned for June 2019.

In addition, the international network of Australian Business in Europe (ABIE) organizations will host a briefing on the status of the negotiations for the EU-Australia Free Trade Agreement in Brussels on the 4th of July, 2019. This meeting will outline the opportunities and challenges facing export-oriented businesses from multinationals to SMEs and will allow the opportunity to contribute your perspective to the process through questions and feedback. The briefing will be given by Australia’s lead negotiator, Alison Burrows, Special Negotiator EU-FTA, Office of Trade Negotiations, Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade.

The common website www.abie.eu  is an excellent platform to share information internationally and has been well received by members across Europe.

GABC Board members Sabine Pittrof and  Eberhard Goihl attended the meeting and summarized it as a well-structured and very effective base for further activities.

 

Lynette Wood - Austrlian Ambassador

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Rheinmetall Land Vehicles on their way to Australia

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The first of the Rheinmetall boxer land vehicles for the Australian Defence Forces were recently inspected by the German Australian Business Council’s Patron, Ambassador Lynette Wood. As has already been announced, Rheinmetall will be establishing a production facility in Ipswich, Queensland, to manufacture land vehicles in the future.

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No-Deal Brexit will benefit Australia

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Brexit will benefit Australia according to a report by the Bertelsmann Stiftung

The AFR reports that a study by two economists found that Australia could be €840 million ($1.3 billion) a year better off if Britain heads into a no-deal Brexit next month (about €34 per Australian resident). The benefit basically reflects a change in the terms of the international trade from Australia and, as the AFR reports, the benefit is neither direct, certain nor permanent.

Australia does not benefit as much the Americans, where the per-capita gain is €41.

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AGM 2019- Frankfurt, March 2019

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The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the German Australian Business Council e.V. was held at the Adina Frankfurt Westend on Tuesday, the 19th of March 2019.

The Chair of the Board, Sabine Pittrof, gave a review of 2018 which had been a year of changes and challenges for the Council on various levels. In that context, we were able to deliver 19 events, maintain our membership base, and contribute a submission to the Trade Sub-Committee of the Australian Parliament regarding opportunities for SMEs.

In 2019, the Council will focus on two core themes of Free Trade Agreement and Digitalisation which will guide our events strategy. This will be supplemented by a new communications plan led by board member Kiki Loukas.

Eberhard Goihl, Treasurer of the German Australian Business Council, outlined the current financial status and highlighted significant improvement on our account receivables. Our 2019 budget includes increased expenditure on event support and website enhancement in order to improve our membership engagement.

The AGM attendees also discussed the potential introduction of new membership models to enhance our value proposition for members. In addition, there were some updates and suggestions for the attraction of younger, next-generation members.

The board thanked Sabine for her dedicated leadership and Eberhard for his fiduciary diligence.

The evening concluded with interactive Australian business trivia and networking over drinks and refreshments.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to our corporate member and AGM sponsor Adina Apartment Hotels for their warm and generous hospitality.

 

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Farewell Dinner for GABC Patron, Richard Leather- Frankfurt, March 2019

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GABC members and friends came together for this informal event to honour Richard Leather, Consul General and Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner for Western Europe. Richard has been GABC patron for last two years and an active member, providing ideas and impulses and helping to bring the GABC forward. Richard and guests enjoyed a three-course dinner at Enoteca InCantina, which serves high quality food and wine from Italia’s Emilia Romagna region.

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GABC Christmas Reception with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra-Frankfurt, Dec 2018

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The German Australian Business Council celebrated the festive season in Frankfurt with an evening reception at the Australian Consul-General’s residence on the 6th of December, 2018. We were delighted to welcome representatives of the Sydney Symphony orchestra: CEO Emma Dunch, Director of Artistic Planning, Raff Wilson, and Director of External Affairs, Lizzi Nicholl to the event in conjunction with the 2018 Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s European Tour.

Members and Friends enjoyed the opportunity to network and celebrate the year’s achievements over a buffet dinner. Special thanks also goes to GABC Members Liz Holland and Oliver Schmidt who donated two tickets to the Melbourne Cup Carnival for a Christmas raffle.

The evening was a fitting end to a productive year of events.

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Australia Day Breakfast Briefing: The EU-Australia Free Trade Agreement Negotiations-Frankfurt, January 2019

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The German Australian Business Council kicked off 2019 with an event with Jason Collins, CEO of the European Australian Business Council, updating our members and friends on the current status of the EU-Australia Free Trade Agreement negotiations.

Jason set the context with a general economic outlook for Australia and its bilateral relationship with Europe before delving into the core tenets of the EU-Australia Free Trade Agreement negotiations. There was much discussion around the table of the potential impact on the flow of services, investment, and people.

This event was the first of our series on the EU-Australia Free Trade Agreement. There will be another update with the Australian Business in Europe (ABIE) network in July.

In the meantime, here are some links for additional information on the EU-Australia Free Trade Agreement:

http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/australia/

https://dfat.gov.au/trade/agreements/negotiations/aeufta/Pages/default.aspx

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Art Exhibition and Concert, 12th April, 2019

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The German Ambassador to Australia and Patron and President of Art Circle Residence, H. E. Dr Anna Prinz, is pleased to invite German Australian Business Council Members and Friends to an exhibition and concert at Hofgut Battenberg (Pfalz) on the 12th of April, 2019 from  5pm.

More information can be found on the website www.artcircleresidence.net 

All enquires should be directed to the organisers using the email: artcircleresidence@gmail.com