Economic Structure
Germany Seeks Greater Diversification through Cooperation with Asia-Pacific
Business and political leaders met for the Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business (APK) in New Delhi, India to discuss the mutual economic future of the region and Europe’s largest economy, with particular emphasis on resilience.
Oct 28, 2024
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and German Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Indian Trade Minister Shri Piyush Goyal, were among the roughly 800 key decision-makers who took part in the three-day event.
Chancellor Scholz visited India twice last year, for a bilateral state visit in February 2023 and for the G20 Leaders’ Summit in September 2023.
“India, the world's most populous country, is a key economic partner of the German economy in the Indo-Pacific and plays a decisive role in the diversification of the German economy,” said Habeck. “The task now is to further expand, consolidate and deepen trade relations between India, Germany and the entire Indo-Pacific region. We need to reduce critical dependencies and strengthen the resilience of German companies and their supply chains to and from Asia.”
Habeck called the Asia-Pacific “the most dynamic region in the world.” He also said that an “Indian-German CEO forum” would be created for economic cooperation and political cooperation and a “German-Indian Roadmap for Green Hydrogen” initiated.
“India's goal is to become a global hub and important exporter of green hydrogen,” Habeck said. “German energy companies are finding important areas of investment in India. At the same time, Germany will need large quantities of imported green hydrogen for its economy in the future. We are creating the basis for this in cooperation with many countries, now including India, that want to supply green hydrogen. Together with India, we want to play a leading role in the global hydrogen economy, thereby driving forward the transition to clean energy worldwide and helping to combat climate change. “
Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI) is a supporting partner of the Asia-Pacific Conference. GTAI Chairwoman and CEO Julia Braune participated in an executive roundtable “German-Indian Tech Collaboration” with Habeck and selected political leaders and industry executives from India and Germany.
