News from Berlin

Hamburg Hosts Annual German-Asian Economic Development Event

March 17th, 2014
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The German Asia-Pacific Business Association (OAV) hosted the annual ‘Ostasiatische Liebesmahl’ in Hamburg on March 7. The event, in its 94th year, welcomed over 350 guests from politics, business and diplomacy sectors, as well as two high-ranking guests of honor: Dr. Hubert Lienhard, new Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business (APA), and Mr. Cesar V. Purisima, Finance Minister of the Republic of the Philippines.

With Mayor of Hamburg Olaf Scholz and Vice-President of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce Dr. Jens Peter Breitengroß in attendance, Dr. Lienhard’s speech focused on Asia’s role in shaping the future of the German economy, stressing that companies that do not invest in Asia will become internationally insignificant.

Likewise, Minister Purisima emphasized the positive economic development of the Philippines, away from its former image as the “sick man of Asia”. Focusing on expanding the economic opening of the Southeast Asian nation, the minister openly invited German companies to invest in the Philippines to facilitate increased economic activity between Germany and Asia.

For over a century, the OAV has been working as a non-profit organization, creating a strong network of German corporations with ventures and business in the Asia-Pacific. The association works with the aim of advancing bilateral economic relationships between Germany and the Asia-Pacific, fostering politico-economic dialogue between institutions, ministries and corporations in the two regions.