Wednesday, June 27, 7:04 p.m. CEST
After spending a few hours yesterday at the Automotive News Europe Congress in the Czech Republic we traveled to Munich, the commercial capitol of Germany’s largest state. Within an hour of landing at the airport we were already at our first meeting.
We sat down with the CEO of the Vereinigung der Bayerischen Wirtschaft, a group very much like our Chambers of Commerce. We learned of their efforts to improve Bavaria’s business environment and then heard of the general state of the local economy from Eric Nelson, the American Consul General here.
While there I also had a chance to do a satellite interview with my friend Sonny Dixon at WTOC. The highlight of our time there was our announcement with Transtechnik- news that the German company is expanding its existing factory in Cherokee County.
Next we were off to the offices of Edmund Stoiber, the Minister President (or Governor) of Bavaria. I found him to be quite engaging and enjoyed our discussion. I was surprised to learn of the Bavarian government’s successful synergy and cooperation between the local government, universities and industry. Following our meeting we departed for a State Dinner in honor of the delegation from Georgia, where I was impressed by the great food and impeccable service.
This morning, we went to explore Bio-M, a groundbreaking public-private partnership fighting to expand the local bio-tech industry here in Bavaria. After a thorough presentation and quite a few questions, Governor Perdue, Commissioner Stewart and I came away with some ideas we hope to be able to export back to Georgia. We also visited with leaders at a local technology company, an automotive firm, and a leading Germany corporation.
Even though the business day was ending, our work continued. First, our delegation attended a reception at Consul General Nelson’s home to meet with a variety of corporate leaders with ties, and some we hope will soon have ties, to Georgia.
Later tonight we’re going to a dinner with the managing director of Mangold International, a software company specializing in applications for scientific research. We hope to have some good news to announce after our dinner conversations.
It’s been an incredible 5 days here in Europe and we’ve accomplished a lot in a short time. I look forward to seeing the relationships we are currently fostering over here continue to bear fruit for many years in the future.