Friedrich Merz pitches Germany as ‘Europe’s bedrock of stability’ to investors

{"text":[[{"start":8.65,"text":"Chancellor Friedrich Merz is pitching Germany as “Europe’s bedrock of stability” as he attempts to lure international investment to help reboot its struggling economy."}],[{"start":18.450000000000003,"text":"Berlin will in October hold its first investment summit — a copy of Emmanuel Macron’s “Choose France” initiative, where the French president wooed global chief executives at Paris’s Palace of Versailles."}],[{"start":30.750000000000004,"text":"In a draft presentation ahead of the event in Berlin, the German government highlights its “strong fiscal stance” as the only G7 country with a triple A credit rating at all three major rating agencies on the page “Germany as Europe’s bedrock of stability”."}],[{"start":46.650000000000006,"text":"The materials aimed at overseas investors also point to the country’s top rule of law ranking, its “highly diversified industrial economy”, as well as Merz’s reforms to stimulate growth."}],[{"start":57.650000000000006,"text":"“Invest in Germany now: participate in Germany’s profound structural transformation — building cutting-edge infrastructure, fostering innovation and revitalising our industrial base for global competitiveness,” Merz is quoted in the presentation, seen by the FT."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":74.55000000000001,"text":"Attracting private capital is one of several steps that Merz is taking to turn around the economy, which is struggling to recover from a long period of stagnation."}],[{"start":84.05000000000001,"text":"His coalition government, formed last year, loosened Germany’s constitutional debt limit so it could plough more than €1tn into infrastructure and defence in the coming years."}],[{"start":94.75000000000001,"text":"Berlin in June also announced plans for a Swedish-style public pension fund to invest a share of workers’ wages in capital markets, marking a break from Germany’s historical reticence to put money into shares."}],[{"start":108.00000000000001,"text":"Merz last year appointed Martin Blessing, the former chief of Commerzbank, as the country’s first investment tsar to promote it as an investment destination. "}],[{"start":116.95000000000002,"text":"Blessing and advisers working on the October initiative have been meeting institutional investors in Germany and abroad in recent months to pitch the country’s merits, according to three people familiar with the talks. "}],[{"start":128.9,"text":"Some of the investors who attended meetings asked for more concrete evidence that the government’s reforms are having an impact, the people said. They also asked for more guidance on which industries of the future the government is backing."}],[{"start":141,"text":"The presentation, or so-called equity story, is being updated throughout the year to reflect the latest reforms and investor feedback, the people said."}],[{"start":150.3,"text":"“Germany is an industrial powerhouse with depth, resilience and transformation at its core,” the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy said in a statement. “And we are determined to make it easier, faster and more attractive for capital to participate in that transformation.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":166.15,"text":"Sectors that currently form the backbone of the economy, such as automotive, mechanical engineering and chemicals, have been struggling in the face of intense competition from China as well as two energy crises in less than five years. "}],[{"start":181.4,"text":"Volkswagen is planning to end production at four plants in Germany and axe up to 100,000 jobs globally, potentially making it one of the largest job-cutting programmes in corporate history."}],[{"start":192.15,"text":"Despite filing more patents than any other European nation, Germany has a poor record at commercialising its university-bred inventions, with economists blaming an aversion to risk and a lack of deep capital markets."}],[{"start":205.20000000000002,"text":"“A lot of what made Germany great in the past has become mid-tech and faces structural challenges and can’t drive growth,” said Robert Schramm-Fuchs, portfolio manager on the European equities team at Janus Henderson Investors in an interview. “Addressing the innovation shortfall in Germany and Europe is about having sufficient capital to scale and become commercially successful, it’s not because of a lack of talent.”"}],[{"start":230.50000000000003,"text":"In June, Macron secured more than €93bn in foreign investment pledges, the bulk of which was from tech giant SoftBank to build data centres in France."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":240.95000000000002,"text":"Germany, which has the most existing data centres in continental Europe, has struggled to attract comparative fresh investment commitments, where necessary approvals from 16 federal states and local councils slow construction approvals and industry is hampered by higher energy costs after abandoning nuclear power."}],[{"start":260.15000000000003,"text":"“There are many things that make Germany a great equity story, but at the same time, the government recognises the challenges we still have,” Dirk Schmitz, BlackRock’s country head of Germany, told the FT. He praised Berlin’s efforts in recent weeks, especially the pension reforms, which could mobilise “enormous” capital flows."}],[{"start":279.8,"text":"Still, Germany needs to offer more projects, speed up approval times and facilitate offtake agreements where possible, said Schmitz, who speaks regularly to investment tsar Blessing."}],[{"start":291.40000000000003,"text":"“Setting up a conference is relatively easy since Germany is attractive for international investors, but changing rules and regulations and cutting bureaucracy is harder,” Schmitz said."}],[{"start":302.20000000000005,"text":"Data visualisation by Keith Fray in London"}],[{"start":313.30000000000007,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1784512275_5178.mp3"}