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Business Networking & Australian Wine Tasting Evening, Berlin, September 2023

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On the 6th of September 2023, the German Australian Business Council in collaboration with Club Vivanova hosted a Business Networking and Australian Wine Tasting Evening at the SANA Hotel Berlin.

The 40 participants were graced by speeches from H.E Christopher Chung (Deputy Head of Mission) who discussed the importance of the Australian wine industry, the newly updated AUS/EU wine agreement and the potential of Australian wine in Germany. Followed by Sabine Pittrof (Chairman, German Australian Business Council) who spoke on the Business Council’s mission and Bradley Mitton (Founder of Club Vivanova, and Australian Wine Importer) who introduced the Australian wines to be tasted.

The evening was characterised by strong engagement and business networking from all participants of both the German Australian Business Council and Club Vivanova Berlin based members.

The wine tasting served for the evening included:

Jansz Premium Cuvée – Tasmania
Woodlands 2021 Chardonnay – South East Australia
Blind Corner Biodynamic 2021 Orange – Margaret River
Blind Corner Biodynamic 2021 Rouge – Margaret River

GABC would like to sincerely thank Bradley Mitton of Club Vivanova and all participants for a fantastic evening.

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Ambassador’s Dinner, Frankfurt, June 2023

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The German Australian Business Council’s annual Ambassador’s Dinner took place on 15th June 2023 at the Museum für Kommunikation in Frankfurt – an apt for an event dedicated to building relationships!

At this dinner we thanked Ambassador H.E. Philip Green for his hard work on the continually stronger and deeper German-Australian relationship and wish him well in his next post India. We are glad that he felt enriched by his time here. He will be greatly missed!

The Agent Generals of NSW Stephen Cartwright OAM and of Western Australia John Langoulant AO were present, along with the representatives of Investment NSW Paul Webster and Russell Canning and Global Victoria Thorsten Terweiden.

We thank our gold sponsors Investment NSW and Sonic Health and bronze sponsors Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), Frankfurt RheinMain and Commonwealth Bank Australia, for your generous support, Tom Austin from Michael Reid Gallery for being such an eloquent and charming MC, and Starward Whiskey for showcasing it’s portfolio of Melbourne whiskies!

Last but not least we thank all our members and friends for making it such a delightful evening!

 

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Graphite from Zavalievsky mine in Ukraine

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Recently, Perth-based company Volt Resources Limited re-started their graphite mine in Ukraine and in a recent webinar organised jointly with our member company DGWA, we were able to learn about the logistic and personnel challenges faced by the  Zavalievsky Graphite company in their operations. CEO Prashant Chintawa and Trevor Matthews, Director of Volt Resources, together with Roman Saramaga, CEO of Zavalievsky Graphite, reported on their activities.

Graphite is one of the most important materials for the transition to the green economy, as it is a major component required for the manufacture of anodes in lithium-ion batteries (LIB) for electric vehicles, for example. Currently, China is the major supplier of graphite to Europe, but there is a need for a major diversification of sources, which will be encouraged by the forthcoming European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act.

The webinar can be viewed on YouTube® at this link.

The webinar was organised by the GABC Raw Materials Focus Group. We shall be organising further events – feel free to sign up for further information.

AGM 2023, Frankfurt & Online, April 2023

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We are very pleased to have had such a great turn out at our Annual General Meeting on 18 April 2023. Members and friends enjoyed the discussion, followed by a round of networking and wine tasting sponsored by our new corporate member 2IslandWines. Big thanks to Ben Lengyel, for coming all the way from the Netherlands and introducing us to top boutique Australian wines!

Our Silver Jubilee year 2022 has been a resounding success, with three ambassador dinners and series of high-profile speakers.

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Board Strategy Meeting, Frankfurt, February 2023

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Our board met to discuss #strategy, priorities, and plans for 2023. Many in-store on our two nations’ hot topics! #FTA #energy #criticalminerals #technology #health

Many thanks to our corporate member Squire Patton Boggs for kindly hosting us.

Dalibor Vukadin | André Haermeyer | Dietrich Klusemann | Lucia Santoso | Elisabeth Opie | Sabine Pittrof | Robert Harrison | Eberhard Goihl | Peirui Tan | Kiki Loukas | Daniel Maccarrone (online)

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Investment NSW Dinner, Frankfurt, February 2023

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We had the honour of co-hosting a dinner on 23 February with our corporate member Investment NSW, welcoming their team in Frankfurt and connecting them with German companies.

Agent-General Stephen Cartwright OAM highlighted the enormous #decarbonisation opportunities, particularly in the #criticalminerals, #mobility, and #renewableenergy sectors.

The #Bradfield #Aerotropolis, which includes development of the second international airport (Western Sydney International Airport) and the #Multiversity (collaboration between University of Newcastle, UNSW, University of Wollongong, Western Sydney University, and TAFE NSW) will drive further economic activity and job creation in priority sectors such as #advancedmanufacturing, #defence and #aerospace, and the #circulareconomy.

Reach out to the Investment NSW team (Paul Webster, Thomas Einsfelder, Russell Canning) to learn more about #investment opportunities in #NSW.

Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) | Europe, UK and Israel | Johanna Harvey (she/her) | Emma Stevens| FrankfurtRheinMain GmbH International Marketing of the Region | Eric Menges | André Haermeyer | Sabine Pittrof | Lucia Santoso | Peirui Tan

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Lost Weekend Brunch with Penelope Richardson, Munich, February 2023

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Situated in the centre of the LMU University in Munich is a modern industrial style space named Lost Weekend https://lostweekend.de

The German Australian Business Council and Lost Weekend worked together to present Penelope Richardson on February 19, 2023 and her artistic works inspired by her time in Germany. Highlighting historical events through her art, she spoke of Art and Architecture and its importance and significance during WWII. Not only did she live in Germany but in Mexico too, creating art inspired by her time with prisoners in there.

People from all parts of the world can come and meet in this unique location called Lost Weekend, enjoy plant based treats as well as scrolling through their selection of books from local writers, exhibition space for artists and a stage for all cultural and artistic events.

          

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Australia Day / Waitangi Day Event, Diepenbeek, January 2023

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In an ABIE first, ANiB, ABIE Netherlands, ANZCCL and the German Australian Business Council teamed up to jointly celebrate Australia Day and Waitangi Day at Diepenbeek, in  the Belgian border region of Limburg on 28 January 2023.

About 30 participants flocked to the Jambalaya restaurant at the country town to be greeted by stone crocodiles and stuffed emus (as well as some stuffed local deer) and to be treated to a delicious 3-course-menu. It was a great mix of people and we were delighted to also welcome Jason Collins from the European Australian Business Council whose visit to Belgium coincided with the event. Networking went on for 5 hours and plans are already on the way for a repeat either in the summer or for next year’s Australia Day. Congratulations to our friends in Belgium and Luxembourg for organising a fabulous event!

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Austrade: Trade and Investment Priorities for Europe, Frankfurt, February 2023

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On 7 February, we had the pleasure of having Jennifer Mackinlay, General Manager Europe and Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner, Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) in Frankfurt, where she gave an update on their trade and investment priorities for Europe and the United Kingdom.

Jennifer emphasized the economic significance of Europe and its deep relationships with Australia, which will be further strengthened though the proposed EU-AU Free Trade Agreement.

With focus on trade diversification and modernisation, underpinned by strategic relationships and capabilities, Jennifer highlighted trade and investment opportunities for companies in the green economy, agricultural business, advanced technology, health and infrastructure sectors.

It was great seeing members and friends at our first event of 2023. Special thanks to our Corporate Member Adina Apartment Hotels for hosting us!

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Free Trade Agreement Webinar, December 2022

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On December 15 we were able to welcome some 50 people from around the globe who had registered for another Business Council webinar, this time on the Free Trade Agreement between the EU and Australia featuring the EU Chief Negotiator, Mr Christophe Kiener and Mr Nils Weller, the coordinator for the EU trade negotiations with Australia.

The topic, the Free Trade Agreement is, of course, very topical. In the current climate of ever changing and shifting trade relations and severe disruptions of supply chains, it is important to have reliable and like-minded partners. While the UK and New Zealand have marched ahead, concluding free trade agreements with Australia and the EU respectively, negotiations on the EU-Australia free trade agreement have recently resumed which gives reason to hope that it may be concluded in the near future.

Mr Kiener shared many insights into where the alignments between the EU and Australia are close… as well as those areas where work has still to be done. He did express the hope that the main topics could be concluded by the end of 2023, but also pointed out that all governements – in the EU that would be 26! – would then still have to ratify the agreement, a process that could take a while as well. As these agreements in general then tend to stand for several decades this investment in time is, however, considered well worth while by both parties.

Participants fielded many a great question which Mr Kiener was able to expand on so that the full hour set aside for the webinar was well and truly filled.

As the topic will still be relevant for a while, it is planned to provide an update with another online or even in-person event in 2023.