Archive for category: EVENT REVIEW

On Sunday, 15 December, the German Australian Business Council hosted a small informal business networking get-together at the Wirtshaus Zum Straubinger. In cold temperatures we celebrated the festive season over mulled wine and with Eisstockschießen. It was great to have an exclusive group of members and friends in attendance. Despite the low temperature, spirits were certainly high – the Glühwein may have helped! We would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas.

On 29 September 2024, members and friends of the German Australian Business Council (GABC) joined the annual Octoberfest networking event for Munich International Business Groups!

More than 260 participants attended the Schottenhammel tent to enjoy the traditional menu, raise glasses and sing along with Bavarian brass music.

The event also included members from the American-German Business Club (AGBC), Australian Swiss Chamber of Commerce, Irish Business Network (IBN) and Businessclub Deutschland Niederland (BCDN).

Our members and friends throughly enjoyed the special opportunity to make new business connections and catch up with familiar faces.

We look forward to further to seeing you at future international business collaborations!

Fantastic Summer Networking Evening – A Resounding Success!

On a warm and vibrant Berlin evening on 6 September, members of the German Australian Business Council (GABC) and many other international trade associations gathered for a delightful networking event hosted by the International Wirtschaftsrat (IWR). The event at the James-Simon-Galerie, set against the stunning backdrop of the Spree and the famous Museumsinsel, provided the perfect atmosphere for fostering connections and building relationships among professionals from various sectors.

A special thank you goes to the International Wirtschaftsrat for their excellent organisation, bringing together diverse associations and creating an invaluable opportunity for cross-network collaboration.

The evening also featured notable speeches from distinguished guests, including S.E. Ambassador to Mongolia Dr. Birvaa Mandakhbileg, Prof. Dr. Matthias Wemhof (Director (Museum of Prehistory and Early History) of the National Museums in Berlin), Silvio Rahr (Managing Director of Wir Für Gesundheit), and Tino Barth (Chair of the Board of the International Wirtschaftsrat).

Guests also enjoyed superb catering with a variety of delicious food and drinks. The highlight was an exciting tombola with fantastic prizes, adding a fun and competitive touch to the night.

Overall, it was a wonderful evening of networking, enjoying great food, and fostering relationships within a welcoming and collaborative environment. The Business Council would like to thank all the organisers for their efforts in making this event unforgettable!

On 25th April 2024 the German Australian Business Council held its Annual General Meeting at the beautiful offices of FrankfurtRheinMain. We are proud to report 16 events in 2023, as well as 2 policy submissions and participation in a parliamentary hearing on the FTA.

We farewell and thank board members Eberhard Goihl, Peirui Tan, Sergej Bukovac, Evangelos Kotsopoulos, Dalibor Vukadin and Simone Wienhausen for their years of dedication and invaluable service, and warmly welcome Caroline Bell, Kat Loughrey, Francesca Ubaldi, Jessica Walker and Lachlan Scully to the board. Thank you Vanessa Rehn for holding the board elections so efficiently!

After the AGM, 32 members and a few friends of the German Australian Business Council enjoyed a round of networking and tasting fine Australian wines provided by 2IslandWines, Ben Lengyel.

Lastly but by all means not least, we thank the FrankfurtRheinMain team Bertram Roth, Raphael Grünewald, Anna Haverkamp and Sener Akkus for kindly hosting us.

We look forward to seeing our members and friends at our next event, the annual Ambassador Dinner in Frankfurt on 4^th June, where we look forward to welcome the new Ambassador Natasha Smith. 

The German Australian Business Council entered Deep Space – for an evening!

A very successful event was conducted on February 29 at the premises of the European Space Agency‘s (ESA) operating centre (ESOC – https://www.esa.int/About_Us/ESOC) in Darmstadt with over 50 attendees, with Octave Procope-Mamert, Head of Ground Facilities, leading through the evening.

The evening commenced with a guided tour through the premises and detailed explanations about the work the ESOC performs in Darmstadt, followed by presentations in the press centre.

Some key take-aways:

• ESA has 22 Member States – most, but not all of whom are part of the European Union – who provide the basic funding.

• ESA‘s charter specifies that their work is for non-defense and peaceful scientific purposes only. One of the key objectives is to find and build up small medium enterprises who can develop solutions to as yet unanswered questions and thus establish and develop Europe‘s competence in space related technologies.

• Work in space focusses both on earth observations providing valuable data on amongst others climate change to scientists and policy makers alike as well as groundbreaking research in deep space.

• Space agencies world wide cooperate very closely with one another thus leveraging their respective budgets and capabilites.

• Many „hundred thousand“ galaxies (not stars!) have already been identified in space… so if anyone thinks we on Earth are important… think again.

• ESA has an annual budget of €7.2 billion equivalent to €12 per European citizen.

• They have managed and run over 80 space missions.

• Increasingly „space debris“ is becoming a safety issue yet to be resolved.

• ESA owns amongst others 3 deep space telescopes situated in Spain, Argentina and Western Australia. A second one is currently in construction at the WA site.

• Every „1 space Euro“ spent generates around €8 in flow-on business and jobs.

The evening concluded with valuable networking over fingerfood and drinks.

ESA/ESOC is actively looking for further partners – especially in Australia – who have capabilities in space related technologies and are interested in working with ESA. Any interested parties are welcome to contact ESA directly or the German Australian Business Council.