Visit of Australian Finance Minister Cormann in Germany

German Australian Business Council board members Evangelos Kotsopoulos and Claas de Boer participated in two events organised around the visit to Germany of the Minister for Finance of Australia, the Hon Mathias Cormann.

At a luncheon in Frankfurt, hosted by the Australian Ambassador to Germany H.E. Mrs. Lynette Wood as well as AusTrade, Minister Cormann addressed a diverse group of business leaders. The group included representatives from German and Australian companies such as Volkswagen, SAP, Deka, Macquarie Bank and Sonic Healthcare. A lively discussion followed which touched upon various matters concerning the relationship between the two countries.

Later in the same week, during a speech in the offices of the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation in Berlin, Minister Cormann stressed that it is good to be on friendly terms with each other – as Germany and Australia are -, but that this is not enough in today’s world. Rather, the bilateral relations have to be put on a deeper foundation. This foundation has been established. Recent past has shown that trade and commerce between Australia and Germany has improved and the future will show that the established foundation will be the basis for further improvement. Minister Cormann as well State Minister Prof. Maria Boehmer, who both co-chaired the Australia Germany Advisory Group, enthusiastically agreed that the path of deepening the ties between the countries has to be and will be followed in the future.

The German Australian Business Council is convinced that the enthusiasm of German as well as Australian politicians will deepen and support the growth in bilateral trade and commerce to the benefit of the peoples of the two nations.