NZGBA Newsletter October 2009
- Words from your AHK
- Election
- Trade Leads
- Employment
- News from Germany
- Latest Research From Germany
- New Member Introductions
- Member News
- Recent Events
Words from your AHK
We are definitely into exciting new times – the news from Europe is more positive, German elections are now over and the NZGBA is firing on all pistons.
Having survived organizing the 6th Oktoberfest we are now moving into the more serious domain of putting together the German Renewable Energy Delegation Program taking place in early November.
Speaking of November please keep your diary free for the premier German Film Festival. Relevant opening events are as follows:
- Wellington Opening Night: 4th November
- Auckland Opening Night: 11th November – the NZGBA will be organizing a special event for this opening.
- Christchurch Opening Night: 18th November
- Dunedin Opening Night: 25th November
Also on in November in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the end of the Berlin Wall and Communist rule in Europe, there will be a conference panel taking place in Auckland entitled:
"Europe 1989-2009, Reunited and Revitalised"
The panel speakers will be the Rt. Hon. Lord Christopher Patten of Barnes, former UK Minister and EU Commissioner, Prof. Dr. Michael Zuern, Director, Department of Transnational Conflict and International Institutions at the Social Science Research Centre Berlin (WZB), and H.E. Mr David Daly, Ambassador of the European Commission to Australia and New Zealand. For further information and registration click here.
So there's plenty on and you can expect to hear more from us this month!
One more thing before I sign off - when is the last time you had an IT system review? As you know the NZGBA is always watching the pennies, that said we still understand the importance in spending a bit of money on keeping our IT System not only up and running but healthy for the future. Codeblue is the company we have worked with for a number of years now and I highly recommend them to you. Not only do they constantly monitor our system, they also have a fixed price billing system - so no big surprises when something does need tweaking! Codeblue has kindly offered to give all NZGBA members the opportunity for a free system review. Simply email Aaron to find out more.
Kind Regards
Monique Surges
CEO,
New Zealand German Business Association Inc.
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Election
Germany Shifts to Center-Right
German voters re-elected Chancellor Angela Merkel of the conservative Christian Democrats to a second term. This time she will be governing with the Free Democratic Party (FDP). Its leader Guido Westerwelle seems to be the big winner of the election. His party had campaigned on a platform of tax cuts, which saw its support jump by 4.9 points to 14.5 percent. The FDP is expected to fight for business-friendly measures such as relaxing rules protecting workers from dismissal, a policy that is preprogrammed to spark fierce opposition from trade unions and the SPD, the Left Party and the Greens.
The election result for the center-right CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) is lower than in 2005. It seems doubtful that the Christian Democrats will be able to set the course, reckons news magazine Der Spiegel.
The once-powerful Social Democrats may never recover from their defeat. Election results for them were down to a low of 22.5 percent, the worst in the party's post-war history. More information...
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Trade Leads
Don't Forget to Check Out Our Latest Trade Leads
As a member of the NZGBA, you are first to read about new trade leads but you must act quickly and let us know which ones you are interested in, as we often then have to go out to non members when no interest is shown in the first month of entry. So please click here to go straight to our Trade Leads!
Here's one example for our export members.
"Marketing and Service Outsourcing company is offering to operate European sales and customer service offices for New Zealand companies. The company has a 15 years success record of bringing American companies to Europe, building markets from scratch by thorough market research, persistent sales efforts and reliable, pro-active customer service.
They are looking for mid-sized companies that are ready to thoroughly explore European sales opportunities and close, long-term relationships."
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Employment
Having Trouble Finding Good Staff?
We regularly receive enquiries from German job seekers who we list online exclusively for our members.
There is presently one listed for a very capable sales and administration executive so do take a look here!
username: nzgba
password: discounts
We can also help you find a German intern. These young people are highly skilled and come to New Zealand after their studies in Germany or for a semester during their studies. Please email us if you require a German speaking intern.
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News From Germany
Economy
World Economic Climate Clearly Improves
The Ifo World Economic Climate Indicator has risen in the
third quarter of 2009 for the second time in succession.
More information...
Hope for Export Sector
While the financial crisis is still affecting the global
economy to a considerable degree, leading indicators such as
the BDI Foreign Economic Report suggest a possible
improvement in the coming months.
More information...
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Energy
German Business Holds Asia-Pacific Conference
The German Business network is preparing a conference on the
Asia-Pacific region under the headline "Partnership –
Innovation – Sustainability".
More information…
Windenergy Milestone for Siemens
German company Siemens is celebrating a major milestone in
New Zealand. The final blade on the final turbine of the
62 wind turbines was attached at West Wind near Wellington.
The company is very proud of the fact that they achieved
this goal two month ahead of schedule. More than 50 of
the 62 turbines are pumping power into the grid – enough
to meet the needs of a city of 56,000 homes.
Clear Way for Offshore Wind Farms
German cabinet approved zoning regulations that would allow
wind turbines to be sited at places in Germany's exclusive
economic zone, outside the 12-mile territorial limit.
More information…
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Export
China Ahead
China's exports narrowly edged ahead of those from Germany
in the first six months of the year. China exported goods
worth $521.7bn in the first six months of this year, while
Germany's total was $521.6bn, the Geneva-based World Trade
Organisation reported.
More information...
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Tourism
Business Visitors Love Berlin
Another chapter in the German capital's success story in the
conventions business: From January to June, 2009, Berlin
welcomed 3.97 million trade visitors attending 50,850
events.
More information...
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Culture & Education
Cineastic History Lessons
The twentieth anniversary of the fall of the wall in Berlin
is the ideal opportunity to introduce New Zealanders to the
changes that have taken place over the last two decades. No
medium could be better suited than film. The first German
Film Festival will be hosted in Wellington, Auckland,
Christchurch and Dunedin in November.
More information…
Classic in the Afternoon
Bach Musica is a choir and orchestra specialising in music
of Baroque and Classical periods. The ensemble is
widely recognized as one of New Zealand's premier Baroque
performers. Their next classic concert will take place on
Sunday 18 Oct 2009, 5 pm at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in
Parnell, featuring compositions of Mendelssohn and Brahms.
More information...
Native English Speakers Wanted
TAP stands for Teacher Acquisition Program and is an
initiative of the Ministry of School and Further Education
of the federal state North Rhine Westphalia in Germany. The
target is to gain teachers from abroad for teaching English
as a foreign language in subjects such as biology, history
and geography in English.
More information…
Scholarships Available
The New Zealand School of Export is offering the opportunity
for members to apply for an Export Scholarship, which is
valued at $1,200 for those enrolling in the Diploma of
International Trade.
More information…
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Latest Research From Germany
Fraunhofer on tagging and food hygiene
Tagging is a big problem especially on historic buildings Researchers from Germany's Fraunhofer Institute now developed a coating that makes it easy to remove the tags without destroying the building. More information…
Another Fraunhofer research group has developed a rapid testing chip to detect undesirable microorganisms in food production and processing industries. The whole test only takes around 30 minutes. More information…
If you are interested in other research findings from the Fraunhofer Institute please click here.
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New Members
CEproof New Zealand Ltd
Paradise Motorcycle Tours NZ Ltd
PBS Sales
Staedtler NZ Ltd
Staples Rodway
CEproof New Zealand Ltd
CEproof
New Zealand and CEproof International are the global leader
in CE marking boats, marine equipment and products in all
industries to the EU Directives.
The famous "CE marking" is the symbol that indicates a product's compliance with all applicable Directives. CEproof staff has experience and know-how of technical standards and legislation.
Contact:
Rolf Eidt
CEproof New Zealand Ltd
36 Ardern Ave
Stanmore Bay
Whangaparaoa 0932
Tel: +64 9 424 8626
Fax: +64 9 424 8724
Email:rolfeidt@ceproof.com
Web: www.ceproof.net
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Paradise Motorcycle Tours NZ Ltd
Paradise
Motorcycle Tours NZ Ltd is a supplier of new or near new
BMW-motorcycles in the tourist industry. They provide guided
tours with professional guides. A luxury automobile
accompanies the tour, giving passengers the opportunity to
rest from motorcycling. Paradise Motorcycle offers
tailor-made itineraries for individual tourists. They
organize all accommodation in advance and supply their
customers with GPS. Their offer is for single tourists and
for small groups.
Contact:
Michael Rose
Paradise Motorcycle Tours NZ Ltd
2 Glenvar Close
Torbay
Auckland 0630
Tel: +64 9 473 9404
Fax: +64 9 473 9404
Email:
mike@paradisemotorcycletours.co.nz
Web:
www.paradisemotorcycletours.co.nz
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PBS Sales
PBS
Sales is offering to operate European sales and customer
service offices for New Zealand companies. PBS has a 15
years success record of bringing American companies to
Europe, building markets from scratch by thorough market
research, persistent sales efforts and reliable, pro-active
customer service.
The key strength of PBS is the highly ambitious and experienced sales team. The PBS service range includes options such as order and claim management, 3rd party warehouse management, billing and accounts receivable follow-up.
Contact:
Jonas Mainka
PBS Sales
Dachauer Strasse 342
80993 Muenchen
Tel: +49 89 1438360
Fax: +49 89 14383622
Email:
jmainka@pbs-sales.de
Web:
www.pbs-sales.de
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Staedtler NZ Ltd
Staedtler
NZ Ltd imports writing and drawing instruments and
associated products from their principals in Germany and
other associated companies. Next year the company will
celebrate 175 years of operation.
Contact:
Wayne Greer
Staedtler NZ Ltd
9 Ashfield Road
Wairau Valley
North Shore City 0627
New Zealand
Tel: +64 9 444 4090
Fax: +64 9 444 5250
Email:
wayne@staedtler.co.nz
Web:
www.staedtler.co.nz
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Staples Rodway
Staples
Rodway was founded in 1945 in Auckland and is now one of New
Zealand's leading independent accounting company. It has
regional offices throughout New Zealand and is an
independent member of Baker Tilly International, an
association of CA and consulting firms with offices
worldwide. Staples Rodway is renowned for its expertise in
the area of taxation, but also provides the full range of
services including business and corporate advisory, asset
management, audit, spreadsheet modelling and corporate
recovery.
Contact:
Tracy Hickman
Staples Rodway Ltd
Level 9, Tower Centre, 45 Queen Street
Auckland 1010
Tel: +64 9 309 0463
Fax: +64 9 309 4544
Email:
tracy.hickman@staplesrodway.com
Web:
www.staplesrodway.com
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News From Our Members
Top Rank for Poggenpohl
According
to a survey undertaken by the Munich brand agency Brand
Rating on behalf of the journal Wirtschaftswoche, Poggenpohl
ranks sixth among the Top 30 German premium brands, making
it the highest ranking furniture brand in the country.
More information…
Back to top , Member News
Heritage Hotels: October events
Heritage
Auckland will hold its annual
Nostalgia High Tea on the 4th of October 2009 on the
roof top of the old Farmers Hobson Street store. Ten days
later the Rutherford Hotel Nelson will host a 'Hotel' play
as part of the
Nelson Arts Festival from the 15th to the 26th of
October 2009.
Back to top , Member News
Langham: Great Room for Auckland
From
February 2010 on, Auckland will have one more events and
conference venue for up to 900 people. The highly flexible
yet elegant new ballroom can be divided into four different
smaller rooms, informs a hotel spokesperson.
More information…
Back to top , Member News
The Artist Goldsmith
To
commemorate the fall of the Berlin wall, the Artist
Goldsmith is planning an exhibition – "Come to Lunch next
Sunday". They will show photos of the historic weekend, 3
pieces of jewellery that Christine Hafermann-Wheeler created
with graffiti coloured fragments of the Wall.
Christine is an East German born goldsmith, designing and exhibiting in NZ,UK,US, and Germany. Her family flew to the West in 1957.
The Artist Goldsmith Gallery is located at 143 Ocean View Road, Oneroa, Waiheke Island. For more information contact them per Mail.
Back to top , Member News
Recent Events
Business with Germans
"Be punctual, put it in writing, cut out the glitz and respect the hierarchy," summarized Christian Dahmen in his presentation to the participants about how to do business with Germans. The entertaining workshop took place in our offices in late September to mix members & non members ... and even the odd German or two!
"It was a very valuable insight into solid negotiation techniques with Germans", remarked one paticipant. "Everything Christian Dahmen covered was very important and relevant", judged another.
We would like to provide you with more valuable workshops. Any suggestion is welcome. Please email Oliver Rube.
Oktoberfest
It was another great Oktoberfest this year. Over 300 guests celebrated with us at the Skycity Convention Center. We had lots of fun, scrumptious food, sizzling drinks, and inspiring entertainment. We are totally delighted that we issue a cheque of $5,000 for our charity recipient Make a Wish - all thanks to the generosity on the night.
We are already looking forward to next year's big Bavarian party. More pictures…
