EVENT REVIEW – Page 14 – GERMAN AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS COUNCIL

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The 2nd German Australian Business Council Oktoberfest Mittags Wies’n

5th October 2016/

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The 2nd annual German Australian Oktoberfest Mittags Wies’n took place on 30 September 2016. 10 German Australian Business Council members and guests met at the Löwenbräu Festzelt and everybody enjoyed the unique atmosphere during lunch time.

Outside the typical Bavarian white blue sky could be seen and inside the tent we had nice music, some maß of beer and the obligatory Hendl.

New contacts and interesting talks took place.

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The 6th German Australian Business Council Oktoberfest Networking Event

26th September 2016/

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in EVENT REVIEW /by Suzanne Heim

The 6th German Australian Business Council Oktoberfest Event took place on 21 September 2016 and was proudly sponsored by our corporate member mic AG. 20 German Australian Business Council members and guests met at the Bräurosl Tent.

New contacts and interesting talks took place.

Everybody enjoyed the unique atmosphere at the Bräurosl tent until late at night.

Before entering the Bräurosl tent.

Starting the casual part…..

German Australian Business Council Board Members Elisabeth Opie and Eberhard Goihl.

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Ambassador’s Dinner 2016

18th June 2016/

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in EVENT REVIEW /by Suzanne Heim

The Annual Ambassador’s Dinner was held on Monday 6^th June at the Spatenhaus next to the Opera in Munich. We were delighted to be joined by the Australian Ambassador, H.E. Mr David Ritchie AO. We were also delighted to see so many of our members in attendance along with some of their corporate guests. We saw the typical Bavarian white-blue sky.

The evening commenced with pre-dinner drinks in the Maximiliansstube. We then moved to the Grosse Opern Stube for the dinner and speeches. Sabine Pittrof, Chair of the Board welcomed the attendees and his Excellency David Ritchie to the event as well as Rita Roider, the representative of the City of Munich.

We also had the pleasure to hear from Björn Behrendt, the German-Australian entrepreneur behind start-ups such as MadPaws, Luggage.co.nz, DocBook and ParcelPush Pty Ltd. Bjorn addressed us on the topic of „Innovation Playground Australia“ and shared his personal experience with innovative business start-ups.

The Ambassador’s speech focused on the topic of innovation as well as including information regarding the newly established landing pads in Berlin. Shanghai, Singapore, San Francisco and Tel Aviv. He also gave a status of implementation of the recommendations of the German Australian Advisory Group.

As he will leave Germany in July he concluded his speech with a comprehensive resume of his 41 years’ experience with Germany.

The GABC Board addressed a farewell and thanked him for his work and support as the patron of GABC in the last 2 and a half years.

Events such as the Ambassador’s Dinner would not be possible without the generous support of our Corporate Members and sponsors. Sonic Healthcare (Gold Sponsor), 24 IP Law Group, Invest in Bavaria and Aesop supported the event. The German Australian Business Council would like to thank them once again for their ongoing support.

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Investing Responsibly – A Changing Landscape

1st June 2016/

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in EVENT REVIEW /by Suzanne Heim

On 24 May 2016, Will Oulton, Global Head of Responsible Investment for First State Investments flew into Frankfurt from London to give a presentation on “sensible investments”, an approach to investment that explicitly acknowledges the relevance to the investor of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, and of the long-term health and stability of the market as a whole.

Besides expounding on the three drivers of “sensible investments” – fiduciary duty, investment performance, and growing demand driving transparency and technology – Will shared some case studies in Germany and Australia that highlighted the strong link between ESG factors and company performance.

After a lively Q&A session, the attendees adjourned for further discussion and networking over Australian Shiraz and German Riesling.

With the successful turnout in Frankfurt, we are delighted to announce that we will be bringing Will back to Berlin and Munich to share more about “sensible investments”. So look out for further information either by email or on our website.

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Cross-border Succession Law and Asset Structuring

8th May 2016/

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in EVENT REVIEW /by Suzanne Heim

On 14 April 2016, Mario von Seelstrang, a partner, lawyer and tax advisor at the Munich based law firm FORUM Rechtsanwälte Steuerberater Wirtschaftsprüfer gave a presentation about the current legal framework for cross-border succession and asset structuring. Mario’s presentation focused on expatriates, mixed nationality couples and German citizens with property interest in both Germany and Australia.

Due to some legislative changes that became effective in August 2015, Mario pointed out some important factors to consider in that context which led to a lively discussion while enjoying a typical Bavarian Brotzeit.

Larry Schulz from the American German Business Club was an interested attendee who contributed to the topic from his own experience at the American German Business Club. It was also great to have some of our new individual members with us for whom it was their first German Australian Business Council event and who provided very positive feedback.

We are delighted to announce that we are currently planning a similar event on the topic in Frankfurt and possibly Berlin. So look out for further information either by email or on our website.

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Australian Landing Pad in Berlin

5th May 2016/

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in EVENT REVIEW /by Rob

As part of the national innovation strategy, Australia is setting up five landing pads to help startup companies expand internationally. The Hon. Steven Ciobo , Australia’s Minister for Trade and Investment was in Berlin’s co-working space Rainmaking Loft this week to announce the selection of Berlin as the European launching landing pad. He was joined by a number of guests, including GABC board members Sabine Pittrof and Robert Harrison.

Right to Left: Robert Harrison, Sabine Pittrof, Minister Cibo, Volkmar Klein MdB

Right to Left: Robert Harrison, Sabine Pittrof, Minister Ciobo, Volkmar Klein MdB (c) Australian Embassy

Rob, whose family come from Australia, was thrilled with the news. “There’s a growing startup ecosystem in Germany and it’s great to see the Australian government supporting young and innovative companies to join us in the heart of Europe.” As GABC President Chair Sabine noted, “Germany industry is on the lookout for innovative partners throughout the world. The German Australian Business Council provides excellent opportunities for German and Australian businesses to get to know each other. We’re looking forward to meeting our new friends as well as dedicated innovators from Australia”.

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Australia Day Networking Event in Munich

17th February 2016/

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in EVENT REVIEW /by Suzanne Heim

“Collaborate and cooperate” was the theme of this year’s Australia Day celebration in Munich, sponsored by the Bavarian government’s Invest-in-Bavaria agency. Opening the event, the Hon André Haermeyer, former Victorian Government minister and Deputy Chair of the German Australian Business Council, emphasised the close and developing relationship between the Australia and Germany and highlighted the work of the advisory group set up by the two countries to foster and develop relationship between the two countries.

André was followed by a talk by Dr. Peter Moar of La Trobe University in Melbourne who highlighted with Dr. Andreas Eckhard some of their joint work with the German Aerospace Centre DLR and Dr. Moar’s push to put Australian students into German industry. The talk was met with a great deal of interest from the approximately 40 participants as Peter explained the advantages of their joint work and some of the frustrations in funding commercial opportunities. It was an inspiring talk as Peter and Andreas suggested ways forward for collaboration.

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Christmas Lunch in Frankfurt

8th February 2016/

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in EVENT REVIEW /by Suzanne Heim

Our annual Christmas business lunch was held at restaurant Margarete to mark the festive season. Members and Friends came together to network and enjoy a fascinating presentation from Christopher Woods, an Australian clarinetist and niche bow designer/maker.

Our chair, Sabine Pittrof also gave a brief overview of the past year’s events, major topics and changes to the association. We farewelled fellow board member Danister de Silva, who will step back from the board and leave Germany.

A business quiz rounded off the lunch with three lucky winners – Norman Wasse, Matei Ujica and Danister de Silva. The prizes – fine bottles of Australian wines were kindly sponsored by The Australien Wine Store in Kelkheim.

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Australia Day Lunch in Frankfurt

28th January 2016/

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in EVENT REVIEW /by Suzanne Heim

The first official event of the German Australian Business Council for 2016, the “Australia Day Lunch in Frankfurt” took place on Monday, 18 January 2016 at the Kameha Suite in Frankfurt with around 50 GABC members and friends in attendance.

The guests of honour at the lunch were H.E. Mr. David Ritchie AO, the Australian Ambassador to Germany, and Mr. Volkmar Klein, Member of the Bundestag and Chair of the Germany-Australia New Zealand Parliamentary Group. We were also delighted to have in attendance Mr. John Atkins, the Western Australian Government’s Agent General to Europe.

Mr Ritchie and Mr Klein were both members of the Australia-Germany Advisory Group and they presented an overview of the Advisory Group’s report “Collaboration, Innovation and Opportunity” which was delivered to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Chancellor Angela Merkel in November 2015.

The Advisory Group’s report details 59 recommendations to broaden, strengthen and deepen the relationship between Australia and Germany, covering the following five themes:

– Increase trade and investment

– Improve strategic dialogue and collaboration

– Strengthen cooperation on science and education

– Exchange on diversity, migration, integration and refugees

– Enhance cultural and sporting links, and cooperation on wine making.

Following the presentations, Sabine Pittrof, the Chair of the German Australian Business Council, moderated a Q&A session which allowed a number of the attendees to seek further insights about the Advisory Group’s report from Mr Ritchie and Mr Klein.

Those in attendance were also treated to a wonderful performance by Louise Fenbury, a Frankfurt-based Mezzo-Soprano, who sang the Australian and German national anthems and Strauss’ Zueignung.

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Coral Covey at 1st Entrepreneur’s Tisch, Munich

4th December 2015/

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in EVENT REVIEW /by Suzanne Heim

Laura Deakin, Australian jeweller and founder of Coral Covey jewellery was host for the 1st Entrepreneur’s Tisch organized by GABC on 30 November this year. The evening took place at her pop-up exhibition in Munich, and was attended by Munich GABC members and friends.

Penelope Richardson introduced the event with a few words about the value of creative industries to vitalizing cities and their economies. In the last decade cities that have embraced their creative sector have seen significant growth as well as renewal, such as Berlin, Leipzig and Melbourne.

According to the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (CCI) at the Queensland University of Technology Australia the ‘the creative sector employ more than 5% of the workforce in Australia and encompasses advertising and marketing, architecture, design and visual arts, traditional arts, film, TV newspapers and radio, music and performing arts, publishing, software and digital content’. Creative businesses can take many forms and sizes. But they all have to start somewhere.

Members and friends had an opportunity to see the handmade silver jewellery unique to Coral Covey, to hear about Laura’s business idea and the philosophy underpinning it, acquire insight into getting the Munich start-up off the ground and get an understanding of the making processes.

Many questions were asked about the process of making the jewellery along with an interest in the knowing about Laura’s Australian/German connection and her studies at the Munich art academy. Participants also had a chance to see the work of Scottish printmaker, Freya Cummings, who showed her textiles, cards and fine art prints alongside Coral Covey, both eco-friendly businesses.

A great beginning to the new GABC Entrepreneur’s Tisch.