Ambassador’s Farewell Dinner, September 2020, Frankfurt

On Tuesday, 15 September 2020, the German Australian Business Council hosted our first in-person event since the lockdown in honour of Ambassador H.E. Lynette Wood who will be returning to Australia later this year.

In splendid weather conditions, the outdoor networking reception with lively conversation set the stage for a wonderful evening at MainNizza in Frankfurt. Dinner started officially with a welcome by Business Council Chair, Dr Sabine Pittrof, introducing the evening’s “Future-Focused” theme.

Ender Tanar, ANZ Germany Managing Director, and Evangelos Kotsopoulos, Sonic Healthcare CEO Germany, then shared their views on German-Australian relations. While Mr. Tanar focused on the digitalization brought by the pandemic, Mr. Kotsopoulus focused on the work in the testing labs, thanking his employees who have been working 24/7 continuously for the past few months.

Engrossing discussions at the tables over the main course were followed by the Ambassador’s keynote address. H. E. Lynette Wood looked back on four years of successful partnership to then give a positive outlook into the future, reflecting on the shared values between Australia and Germany.

Dr. Toralf Haag, VOITH CEO and Chairman of the Corporate Board of Management rounded off the evening by sharing his and VOITH’s view on future developments and reporting on VOITH’s role in achieving Australia’s renewables target.

The evening concluded with a vote of thanks by Dr Pittrof and an official farewell to the Ambassador by the board of the Business Council.

The German Australian Business Council would like to warmly thank our sponsors Sonic Healthcare, ANZ and VOITH as well as our members and friends for their support, without which the event would have not been such a success.