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Australian Business in Europe Meeting Update

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The Chairs of organisations participating in the informal Australian Business in Europe gathered in Brussels on 13/14th October 2017 for their half-yearly meeting. As the network is growing, participants were able to welcome new groups from Spain and Luxembourg.  The meeting was also attended by representatives from the Australian Embassy in Brussels. As a way of increasing benefits for members of each organization, it was decided to plan a joint event during 2018, focusing on the upcoming Free Trade negotiations between Europe and Australia. Participants also reconfirmed that members of participating organisations can attend events of other organisations at the members price. Many thanks are due to ABIE Belgium for a splendid organisation of the meeting!

 

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ABIE NEWS: New Organisation – Australian Spain Business Association

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The German Australian Business Council is delighted to welcome ASAB (Australian Spain Business Association) as a new organisation to ABIE (Australian Business in Europe). We would also like to take this opportunity to remind our members of their ability to attend all ABIE associations events at the member price.

To find out more about the ASAB, including their upcoming events by visiting http://australiaspain.com.

To find out more about ABIE, visit www.abie.eu.

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Australian Biotechnology Industry

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The European Cluster Collaboration Platform has reported recently on the the Australian biotechnology industry, which is considered to be one of the most important biotech sectors in the world.

In terms of the number of companies, the industry is ranked first in the Asian-Pacific area and it is sixth rank of the global market, which makes Australia a leading country in this sector worldwide. The biotech sector in Australia brought €4,9 billion ($7,3 billion AUD) incomes in 2016, for an average of 4% annual growth for the last 5 years (period 2012-2017). Governmental program funding and strong foreign investments have led to a lot of cooperation partnerships with non-Australian companies have stimulated industrial performance in this fast-growing sector. A growth of 4,3% per year is expected for the next few years (period 2017-2022). The biotech industry is now heavily supported by governmental policies, as it is targeted by the National Biotechnology Strategy and has a ministerial organisation dedicated to it: the Commonwealth Biotechnology Ministerial Council.

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WebSummit 2017

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German Australian Business Council Member Robert Harrison joined a number of other Australians at the WebSummit held recently in Lisbon, Portugal. It was a good opportunity to learn about trends and discuss Australian startups. The event itself attracted over 60,000 people ranging from startup entrepreneurs, politicians, journalists and musicians and is sometimes described as “Davos for Geeks”. It was a mixture of discussions on technical and political matters, training events, and showcasing startup companies from around the world.

Ambassador Rayner with Robert Harrison and Michael Bingel

Ambassador Rayner with Robert Harrison and Michael Bingel

Peter Rayner, Australian Ambassador to Portugal, hosted a reception on the Wednesday evening that was attended by around fifty people, including Michael Bingel from Austrade’s Landing Pad in Berlin. Peter welcomed the Australian attendees and the attention that the WebSummit had brought to the city.

Rob has already booked his ticket for the 2018 event and looks forward to catching up with other Australians who find their way to Lisbon. He’d be happy to help arrange contacts and help with any Australian company that wishes to extend their stay.

Lynette Wood - Austrlian Ambassador

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Australian Indigenous Art Exhibition runs in Berlin until April 2018

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Evangelos Kotsopoulos attended Thursday´s formal opening of a hugely impressive art exhibition of indigenous Australian art at the me Collector´s Room (a large private gallery in Berlin-Mitte. The exhibition runs through to early April 2018 and is on loan from the National Gallery of Australia. It is the largest collection of this kind which the National Gallery has ever sent outside of the country and shows beautiful, traditional artworks from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders artist, right through to modern/contemporary installations.

Ambassador WoodAmbassador Lynette Wood opened the exhibition and the event was very well attended by about 200 visitors and quite a bit of press.

The show was the culmination and endpoint of the Australia now 2017 cultural year in Germany, which has been a great success.

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EU – Australia Framework Agreement

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The EU – Australia Framework Agreement was signed by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini, and the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, on the 7th of August, 2017, in Manila, The Philippines.

Marking the beginning of a new era of strategic cooperation between the European Union and Australia, the EU – Australia Framework Agreement will enable the European Union and Australia to further address challenges dealing with foreign and security policy, sustainable development, climate change, and economic and trade matters.

Closer links between leaders across government, business and civil society will thus be encouraged. The EU – Australia Framework Agreement will guide future engagement between the European Union and Australia, accompanying work towards launching negotiations for a comprehensive EU-Australia Free Trade Agreement.

 

Reference:

https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/30843/eu-australia-sign-framework-agreement-closer-cooperation_en

 

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German Australian Business Council Board Members at the Australian Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee

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We are presenting on Monday to the trade sub-committee of the Australian Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. Taking part will be board members Robert Harrison, Sabine Pittrof and Andre Haermeyer together with Jens Rintze from Squire Patton Boggs. We’re looking forward to discussing the implications of a Free Trade Agreement between the UK and Australia. A livestream is available here http://www.aph.gov.au/News_and_Events/Watch_Parliament. 

 

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Bayerisches Wirtschaftsgespräch mit Bundeskanzlerin Dr. Angela Merkel

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Yesterday German Australian Business Council Board Members Eberhard Goihl and Robert Harrison were invited to listen to a speech of German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel in Munich. It was very interesting to be provided with first hand information on both business and social policy as well as impressions of the G20 meeting in Hamburg.

See the article below for further information:

https://www.vbw-bayern.de/vbw/Aktionsfelder/Wirtschaft-und-Gesellschaft/Politischer-Dialog/R%C3%BCckblick-39.-Bayerisches-Wirtschaftsgespr%C3%A4ch-mit-Bundeskanzlerin-Dr.-Angela-Merkel.jsp

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Breakfast Briefing with German Honorary Consul

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Members and friends of the German Australian Business Council gathered in Frankfurt on 7 July 2017 for a breakfast briefing with German Honorary Consul Prof. Michael Rosemann. Prof. Rosemann shared with attendees the various German initiatives that take place in Brisbane such as German week and David meets Goliath. He also captivated his audience with fascinating stories about how the universities help businesses transition to a digitalized world and adapting to a different mindset by thinking in a “bigger box”.

It was a great event to start the work day with attendees taking away a lot of food for thought.

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Dinner with Australian Finance Minister

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Business Council Chair, Sabine Pittrof, was invited to a dinner with Sen. The Hon. Mathias Cormann in Frankfurt on 3rd July 2017. The evening was organized by Federal MP Volkmar Klein, who chairs the German Australian New Zealand parliamentary group. Mr Klein had invited a number of companies from his electorate with business dealings in Australia. In addition, there were some German bank representatives that are active in Australia. Attendees enjoyed listening to the various success stories in an informal atmosphere. It was a great networking opportunity and may also result in additional members for the German Australian Business Council.

The photo shows Volkmar Klein and delegates from the Siegen-Wittgenstein electorate with Minister Cormann with Business Council Chair kindly invited to join the photo.