Economic Trends in GermanyEconomic Trends in Germany

Andreas GurschActing Director

German Trade Office Taipei

SurveySurvey

- Review to 2005, End of Schröder-era- Analysis of Germany´s economic

situation- The year 2006, The Merkel-era- Germany´s foreign affairs- Germany´s economic outlook- Germany´s best technologies

Review: End of Schröder era 2005Review: End of Schröder era 2005

Germany West EastUnemployed 4,7 Mil. 3,2 Mil. 1,5 Mil.

Rate 11,4 % 9,6 % 18,2 %

Vacancies 460.000 360.000 100.000

Unemployment in August 2005

Economic spirit in 2005: How is your business outlook?

Companies

„All right“ 20 %

„Rather good“ 51 %

„Rather bad“ 22 %

„bad“ 7 %

Analysis of Germany´s strength

- World´s market leader in export- High innovation; „Land of ideas“, most patent

applications worldwide- High qualified employees- Very good infrastructure- World´s leader in environmental protection and

protection of natural resources- Small and medium sized companies as driver of

economic cycle- High degree of social peace

Analysis of Germany´s flaccidities

- Domestic demand is too low- Economic growth below average in the EU- Problems with educational system asserted by

the european PISA-study- Social peace attacked by „Hartz IV“-law- 3 % budget deficit limitation by the EU

complicates investment

The Merkel-era, the year 2006The Merkel-era, the year 2006

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

rate in % 12.1 12.2 12 11.5 10.8 10.5 10.5 10.5 10.1 9.8 9.6 9.6

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

Unemployment in 2006

2005 2006

„All right“ 20 % 32 %

„Rather Good“ 51 % 51 %

„Rather bad“ 22 % 15 %

„Bad“ 7 % 2 %

Economic spirit in 2006: How is your business outlook?

What happened?What happened?

Schröder- AGENDA 2010- Employment law

(liberalisation of job protection)

- „Hartz IV“-law- Environmental

technology

Merkel- Fiscal reform- Tax reform- Social law (health)

Hightech-MasterplanHightech-Masterplan

- Incentives for more venture capitalism- Encourage people to start their own enterprise- Support programmes for research companies- „Knowledge makes markets“-campaign to support

co-operation between small-and-medium-sized- enterprises and universities research institutes

- Advancement of innovation in small-and-medium-sized- enterprises

- Counteract the lack of specialized staff

Germany´s foreign affairsGermany´s foreign affairs

Presidency of the European Union in 2007

Presidency of the G 8 in 2007

Main focus of G 8 PresidencyMain focus of G 8 Presidency

„Growth and responsibility“ as a

guiding theme

Design of globalized world economy

Development of Africa

Main focus of EU presidencyMain focus of EU presidency

European constitution Design of economic, social and

ecological future Area of freedom, peace and law Common foreign and safety policy

Germany´s economic outlookGermany´s economic outlook

2007 is supposed to become a booming year!- VAT-raise of 3 % surprisingly doesn´t stop

growth of domestic demand- Consequently tax revenue raises and budget

deficit is minimized- Unemployment rate is supposed to lower from

10.8 % in 2006 to 8.8 %- Expansion of industry production and even the

building industry

Germany´s best technologiesGermany´s best technologies

Automotive sector

Renewables sector

Electrical and machinery sector

Thank you for your attention

For more information about German companies and technologies please contact the

German Trade Office Taipei 4F, No.4, Min-Sheng E. Rd.,Sec. 3 Taipei 104, Taiwan Tel: +886-2-2506-9028 Fax:+886-2-2506-8182 http://taiwan.ahk.de