60 Events & More than 1,200 Attendees
2025 was a remarkable year for the Germany–New Zealand Chamber of Commerce. Through a series of well-attended events, the Chamber strengthened connections, facilitated knowledge exchange, and created valuable opportunities for organizations working between Germany and New Zealand.
Networking & Community – Strengthening the GNZCC Network
A vibrant membership community remained at the heart of the Chamber’s activities. Our Stammtisch series continued to thrive across Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, helping members build relationships and forge new connections.
Special Chamber events, including our AGM at Würth and Chamber 101 at T&G Global, offered additional opportunities for learning, engagement, and community building.
A standout moment of the year was the Second Business Awards Gala, which celebrated organisations making significant contributions to German–New Zealand business relations, highlighting collaboration, innovation, and the strength of our bilateral business environment.
Knowledge Exchange – Conferences, Workshops & Forums
Throughout 2025, the Chamber created spaces for sharing insights and practical expertise. Our project-based conferences explored topics such as “Energy Efficiency and Electrification in the Dairy Sector” and “Strengthening Urban Water Systems Against Extreme Weather”, connecting German specialists with New Zealand businesses.
Topic-focused forums encouraged members to tackle shared challenges, learn from one another, and collaborate on solutions. Industry workshops like Export 101(this year in 5 different cities!), offered SMEs hands-on guidance to grow their exporting activities.
Online initiatives, including the Morning Pulse with Robin Arends (The Bernstein Group), provided timely insights on emerging trends, enriching knowledge exchange across the network.
International Projects, Delegations & Business Opportunities
In 2025, the GNZCC positioned New Zealand even more clearly as a gateway for German companies into both the local market and the wider Pacific region—combining hands-on market access with strategic visibility and delivery-focused formats.
New Zealand: Turning presence into opportunity.
In New Zealand, the GNZCC moved decisively from dialogue to action. Through the MEP Water workstream, German providers were directly connected with New Zealand stakeholders working on urban water resilience and extreme-weather adaptation—translating regulatory insight and market intelligence into concrete entry points. This was reinforced by German–New Zealand Energy Dialogue event formats that brought together policy, industry, and technology expertise around the practical realities of the energy transition.
Visibility and market traction were further strengthened at BuildNZ and Fieldays, where the GNZCC accompanied and organised German company participation. Beyond showcasing “Made in Germany” solutions, these platforms were used deliberately to open doors: facilitating targeted networking, partner conversations, and first market tests that can evolve into long-term business relationships.
Pacific Islands: Project pathways with regional relevance.
Building on this New Zealand base, the GNZCC advanced targeted engagement across the Pacific Islands. PIC activities focused on structured stakeholder dialogue and matchmaking, enabling German SMEs to engage directly with decision-makers and project owners. The EXI project in the Cook Islands played a central role in translating the potential of PV, battery storage and green hydrogen into an implementation-ready pathway—rooted in local conditions and designed for replication across island markets.
These project activities were elevated to the regional and strategic level through the GNZCC’s participation in the first EU–Pacific Business Forum, positioning concrete project experience within the EU’s Global Gateway agenda. At the same time, the Chamber contributed to the Climate Talks hosted by the German Embassies in Fiji and Tuvalu, strengthening institutional dialogue and ensuring that German technological solutions remain part of the conversation where climate vulnerability meets urgent investment needs.
Looking Ahead to 2026
As we move into 2026, the GNZCC remains committed to its mission: Connect – Learn – Grow. We will continue to bring people together, foster meaningful knowledge exchange, and build forward-looking partnerships that strengthen German–New Zealand business ties. With our members and partners, we look forward to another year of growth, innovation, and collaboration.