Entrepreneur from Delligsen in South Korea and China
Kathrin von Soden, Managing Director of Bornemann Gewindetechnik, accompanies Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck to South Korea and China
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (the Green Party) has been on a five-day trip to South Korea and China since Wednesday. He is meeting with government representatives and entrepreneurs there to strengthen relations in the areas of business, climate protection and technology. Kathrin von Soden from Delligsen, Managing Director of Bornemann Gewindetechnik, is also part of the minister’s delegation.
“This trip offers an excellent opportunity to strengthen existing business relationships and forge new partnerships,” said von Soden. She sees “great potential in both countries”. The company wants to expand its business in China, particularly in the field of railway technology. However, South Korea is also an important market – “especially in mechanical engineering and shipbuilding.”
From the Leinebergland into the world
Bornemann Gewindetechnik specialises in the production of high-tech threads that are used in numerous (mechanical engineering) sectors: Offshore, oil and gas, medical technology, railway technology, nuclear technology, satellite technology and underwater technology. According to its own information, the company supplies customers in more than 50 countries around the world.
Moritz von Soden, also Managing Director of Bornemann Gewindetechnik, has been lobbying in favour of SMEs for a long time. On the SME Advisory Council of the Federal Ministry of Economics, he is committed to the economic interests of German companies. At the beginning of June, he also accompanied a business delegation with Lower Saxony’s Minister President Stephan Weil (SPD) to China.
China: “Repressive policy internally, offensive behaviour externally”
Both the EU and Germany have reorganised their China strategy over the past year. The world’s second-largest economy is increasingly perceived in the West as a political and economic security risk. Last year, the German government announced that it was concerned about human rights violations in China and was observing an “increasingly repressive policy internally and a more offensive behaviour externally.” Nevertheless, it is focussing on diplomacy: for Germany, China is “simultaneously a partner, competitor and systemic rival.”
The German government called on German companies to reduce (economic) dependencies on China as part of a so called de-risking strategy. The bilateral trade volume between Germany and China totalled around 254 billion euros last year, one twelfth of Germany’s total trade in goods.
Moritz von Soden from Delligsen, on the other hand, sees the de-risking strategy as a potential threat to the German economy – and probably also to his own business. “With regard to China, it is very important that the consequences of a de-risking strategy for SMEs are taken into account,” he said after his trip to China in June. Politics should not be “too idealistic” and should “primarily represent the interests of its own economy”. At the same time, politicians must also “take into account the realities in other parts of the world”.
“Partnership of values” with South Korea
Economics Minister Habeck is being accompanied on his current trip by a business delegation that has deliberately focused on medium-sized companies. Eleven companies from various sectors are represented.
Habeck: “The trip to East Asia emphasizes our broad, diversified interest in the region. We have a close partnership of values with South Korea,” said Habeck. The country is the second most important export market for Germany in Asia and is “technologically far advanced in areas of the future”.
During his trip to South Korea, the German Vice-Chancellor has planned meetings with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and the Minister for Trade, Industry and Energy, Ahn Duk-geun, as well as with representatives of German and EU companies with Korean subsidiaries.
Habeck and his delegation will travel on to China on Sunday. There he will meet with the Chairman of the State Development and Reform Commission, Zheng Shanjie, the Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and the Minister of Industry Jin Zhuanglong, among others. “China is an indispensable partner in global challenges such as combating climate change,” said Habeck.
China is also an important geopolitical player in security issues. For many German companies, China also plays an important role as a production location and as a procurement and sales market. “It is therefore important that we remain in dialogue and also talk about fair and equal competitive conditions.”
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