On November 14, 2024, politicians, business leaders among AmCham Germany member companies, and other stakeholders came together to discuss how to further deepen transatlantic business relations by improving cooperation in fields such as trade, digitalization and tech, energy, defense, and taxation – a strategy essential to strengthening Germany's economy.
The conference started with Simone Menne’s opening remarks as President of AmCham Germany. Her key messages were that the transatlantic community finds itself in a pivotal moment, with the recent U.S. presidential election and Germany’s traffic light coalition government ending, both of which will influence the shared economic and geopolitical strategies. The main task is to consider how these developments may shape the shared economic, technological, and geopolitical priorities of the U.S. and Germany. She also gave insights into the key results of AmCham Germany’s most recent flash survey on the occasion the U.S. elections.
The commitment of AmCham Germany lies in strengthening Germany's competitiveness as a business and investment hub while remaining agile and responsive to these dynamic political landscapes.
In his keynote, Udo Philip, State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action, emphasized the extensive work ahead in addressing economic and geopolitical challenges. He highlighted the need for Germany to strengthen its defense, NATO commitments, and support for Ukraine, which align with its strategic interests. On energy, he noted the growing partnership with the U.S and called for closer cooperation between the U.S. and Germany. Additionally, State Secretary Philip underscored the importance of reducing bureaucracy to boost Germany's competitiveness and foster transatlantic collaboration.
Providing a company perspective, Bill Anderson, CEO of Bayer AG, highlighted the critical role of the transatlantic partnership as a backbone of innovation, rooted in strong industrial history. He emphasized that businesses need clear visions to tackle challenges like inflation and excess regulation and underscored the need to highlight globalization's economic benefits. He called for fewer bureaucracy and innovative solutions to tackle the problems of today effectively.
In this regard, a strong transatlantic partnership is the key to our success. Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Alan Meltzer at the U.S. Embassy Berlin highlighted that this year, the U.S. became Germany's top trading partner, surpassing China, and remains the largest non-EU investor in Germany. Similarly, Germany is the U.S.' largest trading partner in Europe and its third-largest source of foreign investment. These deepening commercial ties continue to enhance mutual economic prosperity. A similar sentiment was echoed in the impulse of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Siegfried Russwurm, Chairman, Transatlantic Business Initiative, who additionally highlighted the interconnectedness of the European and U.S. partnership, not just on a political but also an economic, cultural, and societal level.
Our strong bilateral business relations were echoed by our closing keynote speaker from the German government – Finance Minister Dr. Jörg Kukies – who emphasized the strong investment flows crossing the Atlantic every day and underscored that the U.S. is Germany's most important ally. He praised the cooperation of numerous U.S. companies developing their businesses here in Germany and acknowledged that Germany must address structural issues to make it more competitive. As for the transatlantic alliance, he called for a clear strategy and focused action.
Two panels complemented the conference, centering on the attractiveness of Germany as a business location as well as the potential for cooperation considering the new U.S. administration in the next year.
Advancing Germany’s international competitiveness and the question, how a RESTART would help boost the attractiveness of Germany as a business location was the focus of our first panel discussion with the following panelists:
- Patrick van der Loo, Country President Pfizer Germany, Pfizer Pharma GmbH
- Christine Rupp, General Manager, IBM Consulting DACH, IBM Deutschland GmbH
- Sabrina Kensy, Divisional Board Member - Head of Mittelstandsbank Central/East, Commerzbank AG
- Dr. Klaus Wiener, MdB, CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group
- Esra Limbacher, MdB, Spokesman for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) Policy for the SPD Parliamentary Group in the Bundestag
In a second panel on the future of the transatlantic partnership after the U.S. elections, we welcomed:
- Prof. Dr.-Ing. Siegfried Russwurm, Chairman, Transatlantic Business Initiative
- Marjorie Chorlins, Senior Vice President for European Affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Washington, DC
- Dr. Sandra Detzer, MdB, Economic Policy Spokesperson, Alliance 90/The Greens Parliamentary Group
- Andreas Schwaiger, Managing Director Germany, Texas Instruments Deutschland GmbH
In addition, four breakout sessions hosted by AmCham Germany member companies and conference sponsors took place, centering on key topics of interest for our membership – either on diversity and talent acquisition in transatlantic business, transatlantic tech cooperation hosted by IBM, generative AI and technological development with Google and economic security in light of geopolitical challenges organized by NetApp. All sessions showcased the myriad of topics that AmCham Germany and its members engage in.
A big thank you to our moderator Dr. Tobias Endler and to our supporters of the 18th Transatlantic Business Conference: Co-Organizer Commerzbank AG; Cooperation Partners Pfizer Germany and Transatlantic Business Initiative; Platinum Sponsors Google, HP, IBM, NetApp; Gold Sponsor KPMG;Silver Sponsors The Coca-Cola Company, Iowa Economic Development Authority, Eli Lilly, Lufthansa Group and Mobility Partner Uber.
Downloads:
View the results of our member survey after the U.S. elections here.
View the reults of our annual TOP 50/TOP 30 ranking, released on the day of our Business Conference, here.
