With the National Hydrogen Strategy, the Federal Government of Germany is creating a coherent framework for future production, transport, and further use of hydrogen and thus for corresponding innovations and investments. It defines the steps that are necessary to help achieve the climate targets, create new value chains for the German economy and further develop international energy policy cooperation.
Last week, we spoke with Tea Ditterich from 2M Language Services about the effects of COVID-19. Tea, who speaks six languages, runs a successful translation and simultaneous interpreting business from Brisbane. With conferences and other live events being cancelled because of the virus, 2M has had to adapt overnight – a change Tea’s business was ready for. In our latest podcast episode, the German-Finnish powerhouse talks about pivoting and the importance of being at the forefront of technology.
As we are starting to see a slow and considered re-opening of gastronomy and hotel businesses, we spoke with Louise and Reimer Moeller from our member company German Beverages Australia. The couple shared some insights on how they are weathering the storm, how they served their community in the last few months and some scenarios on how the future for the industry might look like. They also shed some light on dos and don’ts for beverage companies contemplating a move into the Australian market.
In our latest episode of Sound Bites, we spoke with Byron Kennedy, co-founder of SPEE3D, and Stefan Ritt, their MD in Germany. In a massive and successful pivoting effort, the company has recently explored how antimicrobial copper can help stop the spread of COVID-19, and how those coatings can be installed quickly using 3D printing. While pretty busy on the home front, SPEE3D also went ahead with a planned expansion into the German market, aided by GTAI and Austrade.
COVID-19 has impacted just about every industry in sometimes very different ways. But some industries were already in trouble before the virus broke out, such as the Australian retail sector – and those problems have compounded further. We spoke to Brad Welsman, Managing Director of our Executive Member SSI SCHAEFER, about some of those impacts felt in the logistics industry and for some of SSI SCHAEFER’s retail customers.
Manufacturing, and advanced manufacturing in particular, has been the topic of many discussions recently both on an industry and political level. COVID-19 has highlighted not only certain vulnerabilities in this area, but has shown great desire by many Australian companies to increase local production, while maintaining healthy trade relationships with overseas partners.
Our new podcast series, Sound Bites, delivers insights from the German-Australian business community. And what better way to start this series than to introduce our new Executive Director, Christoph von Spesshardt. Christoph joined us on the 1st of May, and while he can’t meet our members (and staff) in person just yet, he took the time to share a bit about himself with us.
The AHK team has been working remotely for over 7 weeks now. Not only has the novelty of working in our trackies worn off, but there have been plenty of ups and downs during this time. But, has it been all bad?
The global economy and thus the business of German companies abroad are in a substantial crisis. Two thirds of the more than 4,000 companies surveyed by the AHKs worldwide expect the economy to deteriorate in the respective countries.
This blog will provide you with up-to-date, in-depth information about developments in our focus industries. Our team of contributors consists of experts in policy work, business consulting, German Trade and Invest (GTAI), mining and resources, and our member companies.
