Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier, together with the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA), the Federation of German Industries (BDI), the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) and the Central Association of German Skilled Crafts (ZDH), has launched the new start-up initiative of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).
Peter Altmaier, Federal Minister of Economics, wants to give Germany's entrepreneurial spirit a boost. Regarding his recently launched start-up initiative, he says:
"With the start-up initiative, I, as Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, want to encourage people to take the step into self-employment and strengthen the start-up culture in Germany. With their ideas, products, and services, founders contribute to a dynamic, innovative, and internationally competitive economy and create sustainable jobs. Startups, company formations, and company successions in the service sector, skilled trades, commercial enterprises, and the liberal professions strengthen Germany as a business location and are an important pillar of our social market economy."
Joint statement on the start-up offensive
At the start of the start-up offensive, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the associations have issued a joint statement the key points for strengthening the start-up culture in GermanyFurthermore, four regional conferences will take place in 2019, enabling founders to engage directly with Federal Minister Altmaier and the associations.
The BMWi has announced that it will continue and further develop existing measures within the framework of the start-up offensive (such as the EXIST-Programme and the Founders Platform) and to introduce innovations (such as the nationwide action day for business succession and the expansion of venture capital financing with the new KfW subsidiary "KfW Capital"). The activities and measures of the BMWi are summarized in ten fields of action in the Publication “10 points for more start-ups”.
DIHK President Eric Schweitzer calls for the removal of bureaucratic hurdles for founders in the future:
"Our joint start-up initiative comes at the right time. While commercial start-ups have declined for seven consecutive years, we also see opportunities for a turnaround: The Chambers of Industry and Commerce's Founders' Days are once again recording double-digit growth rates. 150,000 people seek advice from the Chambers of Industry and Commerce each year because they want to start or take over a business."
Schweitzer further explains:
"We must capitalize on this interest, because the courage to start a business has also made our country strong in the past. We now need less bureaucracy at all levels so that new entrepreneurs can concentrate on their business. Furthermore, corporate taxation in Germany must not deter founders."
“There is great potential in targeted contact between startups and established companies.”
BDI President Dieter Kempf stresses that politics and business must work together to enable successful start-ups and successful succession under the conditions of demographic change, globalization and digitalization:
"There is great potential in targeted contact between startups and established companies – whether large corporations or medium-sized family businesses. Politicians remain called upon to reduce taxes in a targeted manner and finally create more digital administration and less bureaucracy. I see the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy's initiative as the first step toward a federal government strategy for small and medium-sized businesses."
BDA General Manager Steffen Kampeter calls for a more founder-friendly climate as part of the start-up offensive:
"This includes, for example, maintaining and expanding an efficient digital infrastructure, a wide range of funding instruments, a radical reduction in regulatory overkill, and an attractive location policy. There's still plenty of room for improvement here. From the land of poets and thinkers to the land of founders – for this, we need a fundamental, appreciative understanding of entrepreneurship and company start-ups in our society."
