Archive for category: EVENT REVIEW

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

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!

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.