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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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Christmas Drinks in Berlin

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Gendarmenmarkt, Berlin

The German Australian Business Council invites you to join us for Christmas Drinks in Berlin on Monday, 15 December 2014 from 6:30 pm and we hope that you can join us for Glühwein and dinner at the Christmas Market “Weihnachtszauber Gendarmenmarkt”. Please contact Susanne Schnack at office@abie-germany.de for more details or RSVPs.

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Christmas Networking Event Frankfurt

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Restaurant Alma, Frankfurt

This year’s Christmas Networking took place at the cosy Alma`s Restaurant in Frankfurt. Around 30 members and friends of the German Australian Business Council e.V came together to enjoy the yummie Portuguese three course dinner. Sabine Pittrof, chair of our association, gave a brief review of the year 2014 and an outlook for 2015. Fellow Board Member David Campbell, Consul-General in Frankfurt and Senior Trade & Investment Commissioner, Western Europe for Austrade, gave an overview of Australia’s business targets for the next years, focusing in particular on free trade agreements. All participants enjoyed the networking event and it lasted till late evening until the restaurant had to close to not upset the neighbours.

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Melbourne Cup event in Frankfurt

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Adina Apartment Hotel, Frankfurt Neue Oper

The 2014 Frankfurt Melbourne Cup Event was a night of fun and lively competition. The highlight being Protectionist, a German born and bred horse winning the 2014 Emirates Melbourne Cup. We could not have asked for a better Australia – German link for the focus of the evening.

The German Australian Business Council was fortunate to be able to partner with the Adina Apartment Hotel Frankfurt and Tourism Victoria to make this a truly memorable event. While the highlight was the Melbourne Cup race and sweep and the Business Card draw, the Antique Horse Racing machine, with inspired race calling by Dirk Löb from the Adina Apartment Hotels, was the true focus of the evening for many of the guests. We were also entertained by a fashion parade highlighting a young Frankfurt fashion designer, an exhibition by Glow Shoes and tastings of some top Australian wines courtesy of German Australian Business Council Members Karin & Olaf Czirr from the Australien Wine Store and Bob Gogan from Gogan Wine Imports. This was a particularly popular networking point throughout the evening.

Special congratulations got to Sabine Höfferling from PPI Aktiengesellschaft, the winner of the business card draw; a trip for two to the 2015 Melbourne Cup Carnival including return airfares with Emirates, four nights accommodation at an Adina property in Melbourne and Members passes to Derby Day and Melbourne Cup Day courtesy of the Victoria Racing Club.

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Fourth Australian German Science Circle

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Australian Embassy, Berlin

The fourth Australia-German Science Circle was held on a pleasant September evening in the meeting room at the Australian Embassy in Berlin. Attended by ABIE Board Members, Elisabeth Opie, Class de Boer and Rob Harrison, the event focussed on science collaboration around the world. Professor Debbie Terry, Senior Vice-Chancellor of the University of Queensland focussed on how important collaboration has become in the scientific world. Australia and Germany are leaders, with many of their researchers being on papers with non-local co-authors.  Growing tripartite arrangements involving Asian-based scientists were also discussed.

Professor Terry did not really dive into the commercialisation aspects of science, except to mention one interesting statistic: in Germany, the ratio of academic researchers to technologists and scientists working in industry is 2:4; in Australia the ratio is 5:2 – almost a complete reversal. This shows the potential for increase in Australian industry science-based structure while achieving high return on investment, and indeed is being encouraged by the Australian government. There is clearly a long way to go, and targeted international teaming up of scientists would certainly help meet the challenges ahead for mutual benefit – scientifically and commercially.

The evening finished off with the usual round of drinks in the Atrium.

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Presentation and lab tour by our corporate member Sonic Healthcare

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Sonic Healthcare, Berlin

On 21 October 2014, members and friends of the German Australian Business Council joined for a most fascinating evening at the premises of Sonic Healthcare in Berlin. They were welcomed by Sonic Healthcare Germany’s CEO Evangelos Kotsopoulos; Mr. Kotsopoulos delivered a presentation highlighting the state-of-the-art technology used by Sonic Healthcare in Germany. Participants learned about Sonic Healthcare’s steady growth in the past, making it the number one medical diagnostics company and the largest Australian investment in Germany. German-Australian Business Council’s patron, the Australian Ambassador to Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, H.E. Mr David Ritchie AO, greeted participants and highlighted the importance of mutual investments between Germany and Australia in his speech. In a tour through Sonic Healthcare’s recently built Berlin central laboratory, participants were fascinated by the complex interaction between information technology and medical diagnostics providing reliable, fast and most advanced medical services to doctors and patients alike. The event continued with a reception giving participants another great opportunity to network.

On details about the evening, please contact GABC board member Claas de Boer ( claas.deboer@abie-germany.de).

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ABIE Germany Oktoberfest

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Bräurosl tent, Munich

On 22 September 2014, the 4th ABIE Oktoberfest Event took place, proudly sponsored by our corporate members mic AG and Telstra Global. The ABIE Germany Patron and Australian Ambassador to Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, H.E: Mr David Ritchie AO, joined the event for the first time. Together with 20 ABIE Germany members and guests he followed interesting presentations by our sponsors concerning their special businesses.

Invigorated by a Bavarian ‘Brotzeit’ everybody enjoyed the unique atmosphere at the Bräurosl tent until late at night.

mic AG and Telstra have already confirmed their willingness to sponsor the 2015 ABIE Germany Oktoberfest Event again.

oktoberfest_talking_1

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Ambassador’s Dinner 2014

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Australian Embassy, Berlin

ABIE (Germany) hosted this year’s Ambassador’s Dinner at the Australian Embassy in Berlin.

More than 90 guests representing the political and the business community listened to speeches by H.E. Ambassador David Ritchie AO, Senior Trade & Investment Commissioner and Consul General David Campbell, the CEO of Scout24 Group, Greg Ellis, and ABIE (Germany) chair of the board Sabine Pittrof. The large number of participants made this year’s Ambassador’s dinner one of the biggest events organized by ABIE (Germany) so far. While the presentations all shared a common focus on Australia’s G20 presidency this year and the commercial aspects to be discussed on the B20 level (the Business 20 (B20) brings together business leaders from across G20 member countries), the speakers put different emphasis on the political implications and requirements and commercial expectations such as sustaining a necessary growth rate to support future economical stability.

ad 2014

The reception in the early evening followed by a three-course set menu enabled guests to meet, be introduced to each other and to network. The table talks were very inspiring and were followed by further discussions during meetings beyond this dinner. The Atrium of the Australian Embassy Berlin was a beautiful backdrop for this event. Comments by participants were: “It was an outstanding evening” and “Great networking event”.

The support of the Australian Embassy Berlin and its staff, speakers, guests and sponsors Sonic Healthcare, TELSTRA Global, Scout24 Group and Austrade made this event a successful forum for sharing information on current commercial issues and networking.

For further information please contact ABIE (Germany) board members Claas de Boer ( claas.deboer@abie-germany.de ) or Simone Wienhausen ( simone .wienhaus simone.wienhausen@abie-germany.de )

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Economic Update Down Under

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Allen & Overy LLP, Frankfurt

On Wednesday 26th March, ABIE members and friends were provided with an Economic Update on Australia by Peter Sargent, Head of Global Loans and Transaction Banking with ANZ Banking Group.
The event was supported by Austrade, who were instrumental in securing Peter for the presentation and Allen & Overy LLP who provided one of their  Board Room’s as the venue for the event.
Peter Sargent provided an excellent overview of Australia’s current financial standing in terms of Balance of Trade, major projects – completions and those still in progress, interest rates, Consumer confidence, labour costs and opportunities for development and investment.
Peter also provided a strong perspective as to why Australia is a strong economy to invest in and why it is so well located, from a strategic point of view, to the growing markets in Asia.
Peter presented a number of interesting slides throughout his presentation and these will be available shortly on this website.

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Lunch Seminar on Frontier Communications

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Kameha Suite, Frankfurt

Lunch Seminar on Frontier Communications held by Telstra Global, Austrade and Ovum.
At the exclusive setting of the Kameha Suite in Frankfurt, Telstra Global, Austrade and Ovum presented an insightful luncheon seminar on enterprise productivity in the 21st century. After an introduction given by David Campbell, Consul-General and Senior Trade & Investment Commissioner, Hugh Bradlow, CTO, Telstra Corporation presented the ten emerging technologies that are getting ready to reshape the world of corporate information and communication technology and how they will impact the business world. Richard Edwards, Principal Analyst at Ovum, followed-on with his presentation on the challenges of new technologies for the corporate world. The presentations gave rise to a lively discussion on privacy, data security and cloud computing that continued during the lunch that was served in the attractive atrium of the Kameha Suite. ABIE Germany would like to thank Telstra Global and Austrade for inviting ABIE members to this event.