Mr Mohn,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
this is a great pleasure for me indeed to meet you here in Hamburg Süd´s new premises.
Being the company´s local representatives and employees, it is you who make Indian-Hanseatic co-operation work. Doing so in this marvelous great thriving city of Mumbai must be an enthralling, if challenging task.
Yesterday I had the chance to visit just a small part of Mumbai´s huge docks that were already unparalleled some 150 years ago. Not without cause, Europeans made up the name of Bom Bay which means Good Natural Harbour.
Today, Mumbai is the economic centre of India while its two sea ports, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port and the Nhava Sheva container terminal Port, are the countrys prime movers.
Which bonds us: Hamburgers consider the port to be the heart of their town, too. Every year more than 10,000 ships dock in Hamburg.
Germany's largest port has long held a top position in Europe, too: the container port a vital international trading hub for North, Central and Eastern Europe as well as Asia and North America is ranked second on a European scale and is one of the most modern in the world. In Hamburgs metropolitan region, around 150,000 jobs are linked directly or indirectly to the port; basically every ninth job in Hamburg.
Indias importance in trade terms with Germany - and in particular Hamburg has grown strongly in recent years. Since 2002 Hamburgs foreign trade with India has risen from 452 million to 1.27 billion.
Hamburgs share of German-Indian trade varied between eight and eleven per cent during that period. Overall the trade volume reached Euro 15 billion in 2010.
Total tonnage in containerised goods trading between Germany and India rose by around 23 per cent between 2009 and 2010, on an upward trend. India is our tenth largest partner in terms of container turnover.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
hopefully, as part of your duties, you will get the opportunity to come across and have a good look at Hamburg yourselves. We shall be pleased.
As to these fine premises where we are cutting the ribbon today, I quote French philosopher Blaise Pascal who has said:
All of man´s misfortune comes from one thing, which is not knowing how to sit quietly in a room.
Working with Hamburg Süd India, you will not sit quietly in your rooms too often. Here at Forbes Building, however, you have good headquarters from where you can move increasing cargo volumes for the benefit of India and Hamburg. That seems to be an even better prospect.
All the best of success to all of you, and Hamburg Süd India Private limited.
Thank you.
The spoken word applies.