UK Minister for Trade & Investment, Lord Green, meeting with BCCG

Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint, UK Minister of Trade & Investment met with the BCCG on 30 May 2013 in Berlin.

Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint speaking May 30

At a luncheon, he stressed the importance of  a coordinated effort to renew the EU and its mechanisms and regulations in order to achieve a new growth in Europe. He also pointed out, that the membership of Britain in the EU was of high importance.

Especially a new industrial policy for all of Europe as well as opening of markets and regulations in the service sector are of prime importance in order to generate new jobs especially in troubled European  countries.

At the same time, a joint policy towards other world economies, such as the planned free trade agreement with North America as well as Japan would be very important  and opening new opportunities for growth.

He used the occasion of his speech also to stress the co-operation with the BCCG as one example for re-newed industrial export initiatives in the UK. UKTI will partner with BCCG more strongly in the future to strengthen British export industry and foster foreign direct investment. It is planned to generate new growth in exports, especially through activating small and medium size enterprises supported by UKTI and the BCCG.

Lord Green, Malcolm Scott, Norbert Strohschen signing MoU

Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint, Malcolm Scott (Consul General Düsseldorf and Director Germany of UKTI) and Norbert Strohschen, President of the BCCG, signed a Memorandum of Understanding concerning the planned closer cooperation between UKTI and the BCCG.

Further steps will be set out soon by a working group established with the MoU between UKTI and BCCG.   

The BCCG will inform soon about future developments.

The luncheon was gracefully organised by the experienced staff of the Rocco Forte Hotel de Rome, giving the BCCG members a great networking opportunity.

Berlin, 31 May 2013,
Andreas Meyer-Schwickerath
Director and Member of the Board of the BCCG

BCCG Annual General Meeting / Jahreshauptversammlung, Dresden, May 2013

The BCCG Annual General Meeting (AGM/Jahreshauptversammlung) was held in Dresden on 16 May 2013.

With beautiful weather the AGM startet on time and the agenda including Annual Report, new elections, event outlook and membership fees were decided by the members present.

Dresden, 16 May 2013, Canaletto View

Norbert Strohschen, Gertrud R. Bergmann, David Marsh CBE and Gerd W. Stürz wer re-elected as council members by BCCG members and subsequently as members of the presidium by the council. Also, Thomas Knollmann (Berlin) was newly elected as council member, and re-elected were Achim Klüber (Frankfurt/M), Dr. Hanno Goltz (Cologne) and Jörg Waldeck (Berlin). We congratulate all elected honoraries to their elections and thank for their continued contributions. Membership fees were decided to increase by a reasonable margin, thereby allowing the BCCG to maintain its service profile.

The programme at the Sachsenbank was followed by a conference with the theme Mobility Concepts for the Future, with high profile speakers such as Prof. Dr. Georg Unland, Staatsminister der Finanzen des Freistaates Sachsen, Manfred Erlacher, Werkleiter BMW AG, Werk Leipzig, Peter Fuß, Ernst & Young GmbH and Volker Steimle, Partner Commercial at Luther Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH. The lively discussion was moderated by Arnim Schiffmann, the BCCG Chairman Saxony.  Afterwards, the membership attended a guided tour of the Green Vault Museum and finished with a dinner at Taschenberg Palais Hotel Kempinski.