Thuringia's head of government: make greater use of experience in the East

Thuringia's Minister President Mario Voigt is urging the future federal government to use the experience gained in East Germany to overcome the economic slump. "An impulse for Germany must start now, with low taxes, less bureaucracy and, above all, a clear focus on promoting and demanding," said the CDU politician in Berlin. "Many of the experiences we have had in the East can play a major role in the transformation, in the change, over the last 35 years."

Voigt made his comments on the fringes of the Minister Presidents' Conference of the East German states, to which business representatives were also invited. Ralf-Uwe Bauer, President of the East Thuringia Chamber of Industry and Commerce, emphasized that there had been an "extremely positive economic development" in East Germany over the past 35 years. East German companies are particularly innovative. Nevertheless, mandatory tasks had to be solved politically. "These include the issues of reducing bureaucracy, energy, labor costs and many, many more," said Bauer.

What he had read so far in the known papers on the coalition negotiations between the CDU/CSU and SPD was "largely okay", added the IHK representative. However, there are "certainly still a whole series of unanswered questions".