Mayors Talk im Rahmen des Hamburg Copenhagen Business Forum
Professor Schmidt-Trenz,
Mr Saul,
Mr Jensen,
Mr Lange,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I have just returned from a visit to Stockholm this morning to meet the Lord Mayor of Copenhagen, my dear friend Frank Jensen, on the occasion of the first Hamburg Copenhagen Business Forum at the Chamber of Commerce. What could be a better proof for the strong ties between Hamburg and Scandinavia?
I very much want to thank you, Professor Schmidt-Trenz, for arranging this event in Hamburg together with the German Danish Chamber of Commerce in Copenhagen.
That this conference meets the needs of our cities, especially the economic sector, is obvious. For both Hamburg and Copenhagen there is no other international metropolis in comparable short distance in fact Copenhagen and Berlin are nearly equidistant to Hamburg.
Upcoming developments will even reduce the distance, at least in terms of traveling time.
When I visited Copenhagen in 2011 only a few months after the last Hamburg election Frank and I signed an agreement which outlined our shared goals: co-operation in the fields of urban development, transport, science, tourism, and culture.
By now, we have made progress in all of these areas.
Urban developers and city planners from Copenhagen and Hamburg are in close contact and there is an active exchange of ideas about current projects in both cities on how to develop new inner city quarters with direct access to the waterfront. HafenCity and Nordhavn are two examples for solutions to overcome the lack of inner city housing space and they exemplify the innovative solutions that both cities are seeking in order to deal with a growing population.
One of the most attractive European areas to fund innovative projects is that of smart city development. Both our cities offer a number of solutions in this field. This is why we cooperate together with other European Partners and apply jointly for European funds.
Hamburg has become the hub for wind energy in Germany. Who would have imagined some years ago that all major players in this field locate important offices in Hamburg?
And who would have predicted DONGs recently announced decision to make the largest ever investment into offshore wind energy for a wind park located at the German North Sea coast?
Our clusters for renewable energy have agreed upon a partnership and I had the pleasure to meet the executive board of Danish Industry for talks about Energy issues in Hamburg in December last year.
It has not been by chance that Hamburg and Copenhagen have been awarded the European Green Capital Award for 2011 and 2014 respectively. We offer huge expertise in green and sustainable solutions and moreover Frank and I are convinced that this is the key for future urban development.
We are well on the way to combine forces in the area of scientific research. Hamburg has a strong portfolio in the field of basic research at world class facilities such as DESY. The upcoming construction of the European Spallation Source in Lund and the corresponding IT facilities at the Danish Technical University will attract scientists from all over the world to Hamburg as well as to Copenhagen and Lund. Material Science will be a backbone of scientific cooperation between our cities and attract a relevant number of new innovative companies to science parks attached to the respective research facilities.
Danish can be overheard frequently in the city centre of Hamburg as the number of tourists from your country has increased tremendously. By now, Danes make up the third-largest group of international tourists.
One of the most successful exhibitions during the last years Denmarks breakthrough to Modernism has shown masterpieces of the Danish Gold age from the Hirschsprung Museum in Copenhagen at Kunsthalle Hamburg.
The largest investment to date in our region is about to enter into its construction phase. The Fehmarnbelt tunnel is of utmost interest to both cities, although it will not be built on Hamburg´s state territory.
Denmark has been fast in all decision procedures connected to the tunnel.
Denmark finances the construction.
The Danish government has decided upon a major upgrade of the railway traffic towards Germany and has speeded up the trains to 200 to 250 Kilometres per hour. These are precisely the kinds of decisions that meet the future needs of European Transnational Transport.
Frank and I are entirely in agreement that there is further need for decisions on the German side to provide a modern railway connection between our cities.
In the end it must be possible to reach Copenhagen by train within a traveling time of not more than two and a half hours in 2021 when the construction of the tunnel will be completed. The outcome of the spatial development planning in Schleswig-Holstein which pleads for a substantial upgrade of the respective rail connections in Schleswig Holstein may be considered as an important step on this way.
What should become obvious here is that today you are meeting two cities with excellent perspectives for business and investments; two cities which have been successful in overcoming the crisis of the last years, which can build on their sound economic background and which have two of the most stable political fundaments worldwide.
As forward-thinking experts for sustainable solutions, we offer attractive investment opportunities.
Coming to Hamburg as well as to Copenhagen will produce high quality of life for your employees, excellent perspectives for your investments and being part in the development of two European cities being frontrunners of city development towards liveability.
I am very much looking forward to finding solutions together with you in order to attract you to be part in developing our cities.
Any guidance or help you will need on this way will be at hand.
Thank you for your attendance today in Hamburg. This is a kick-off and I am sure we will meet again next year for the second Hamburg Copenhagen Business Forum as there are attractive tasks ahead.
Es gilt das gesprochene Wort.