Burgbacher: "Germany's top business advantage: brains"
Ernst Burgbacher, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology and Federal Government Commissioner for SMEs and Tourism, commented as follows on today's publication of Ernst & Young's survey on doing business in Germany:
"Germany is one of the world's most attractive locations for business. Our strong position is largely based on the commitment and creativity of our entrepreneurs and our highly skilled workers. The new study says that our network of research establishments, large companies and strong SMEs is unique.
A key advantage is the many clever people generating growth and prosperity here. We owe this advantage not only to our educational infrastructure, but also to our companies' commitment to our "dual" vocational training system. Our current "Vocational training - practically unbeatable" campaign helps the companies providing training to get hold of tomorrow's skilled workers. Together with the Labour Ministry and the Federal Employment Agency, we are providing a further major stimulus with our new campaign to attract skilled professionals and its welcoming website www.make-it-in-Germany.com. We must continue to do our utmost to maintain the highest skills level."
Background:
Ernst & Young's study "Der Fels in der Brandung? - Standort Deutschland 2012", which was published today, confirms that foreign managers regard Germany as Europe's leading business location. 56% of the 840 international managers surveyed regard Germany as one of the most attractive locations for investment in Europe, followed a long way behind by France (25%) in 2nd place. Alongside the infrastructure, one of Germany's greatest strengths is deemed to be the skills level of its workforce, which was awarded good grades by 85% of those surveyed. Germany comes sixth in the global ranking, behind China, India, the USA, Russia and Brazil.
