Thank you, Mr. Steinrücke,

Captain Gantana,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my pleasure, as mayor of the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg, to speak with you here today, and discuss with you the prospects for the port economy.

Over the past few days I have gained many impressions of this wonderful country, got to know a little about India’s cultural diversity and, in many meetings and talks, appreciate the openness and close bonds the country has with Germany and Hamburg.

I am very taken by Mumbai’s colourful mix of Indian tradition, colonial heritage, religious rites and modern business life.

The kindness I have experienced since my arrival here tells me that it is not the geographical distance between two regions which is important for the intensity of relations, but rather the personal will and the attitude of all involved. It also shows just how important it is to manage these relations across and beyond national borders, between continent and continent.

And I believe this is something one can truly call one of Hamburg’s core cómpetencies”. Our town has long named itself the gateway to the world, and is proud of its openness to the world and its genuine invitation to co-operation, in particular to our trading partners.

At home in Hamburg, taking a boat trip around the port is an absolute must for the millions of tourists who visit our city every year. This afternoon I myself visited one port of Mumbai and was most impressed by what is definitely a vital port for the whole of the Indian subcontinent.

Mumbai’s huge docks were already unparalleled some 150 years ago. 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 country’s prime movers.

There is another thing which bonds us: Hamburgers consider the port to be the heart of their town. For hundreds of years, people, goods and ideas have travelled to Hamburg and out again into the world beyond. Every year more than 10,000 ships dock in Hamburg, including 166 cruise liners this year, and then return to the North Sea.

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 Hamburg’s metropolitan region, around 150,000 jobs are linked directly or indirectly to the port; basically every ninth job in Hamburg.

Hamburg is the German centre of excellence for foreign trading and it secures German industry’s connections to the world. Trading relations with India are an important part of that, because Germany is India’s key trading partner within the European Union. 

No less than two thirds of the entire exports of Indian tea and Indian carpets, two of your country’s famous products, pass into Europe through Hamburg. Their characteristic aromas have for many years been an integral part of Hamburg’s historic listed warehouse complex, the Speicherstadt.

India is currently one of Hamburg’s top ten trading partners in terms of container turnover and is on a clear upwards trajectory: since 2002, Hamburg’s foreign trade with India has risen from Euro 452 million to Euro 1.27 billion. Hamburg’s share of German-Indian trade has varied in that period between eight and eleven per cent, with the overall trade volume reaching Euro 15 billion in 2010.

The senate of the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg is vigorously supporting this positive development. One example being the state chancellery frequently joining the Hamburg port enterprises organisation in sponsoring the container workshops offered by Uniconsult to boost the further development of container management at Indian ports. And I am pleased to hear that these workshops are very well received.

One of the nicest signs of our robust reciprocal bond is, 

I think that the Mahatma-Gandhi-Bridge” creates a link between parts of our new HafenCity” neighbourhood. Which brings me back to our subject: Gandhi’s birth place, Probandar, means city-port”. And in my opinion, this bridge in Hamburg is an especially fitting symbol: it stands for the fact that what our age needs are bridges, not barriers.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am sure we will talk later this afternoon about what our ports and shipping routes need, what our expectations of them are in the future and how they can contribute to helping our world grow together.

In this sense there are also other aspects which we share, because some of the tasks which need solving here are not unlike those in Europe and Germany. Let me just mention some key words: 

1. administrative reforms and reducing red tape;
2. the challenges arising from changes in the fabric of international relations and interference to the flow of raw materials and goods;
3. security issues relating to the handling of hazardous goods but also defending against terrorism and the fight against piracy;
4. the further development of infrastructure, for example the changes made necessary to the Elbe shipping channel and the port basin to handle ULCS, ultra-large container ships;
5. port connections to the hinterland and managing increased traffic volumes;
6. and by no means least, ecological demands, for example providing ships in port with electricity from the land side in order to reduce air pollution.

In a world which is ever more closely networked, the fact is that how we deal with each of these individual points has knock-on impacts: on our national economies, on affluence and on social peace in our countries.

We basically share the same goals: we want to offer all seafarers, travellers and traders safe, efficient and dependable services in all parts of the world.

Ladies and Gentlemen;

It was a great personal pleasure for me that this year India was Hamburg’s partner country at its annual port anniversary celebrations. The port anniversary 2012 was selected by India as the starting event for the Year of India in Germany 2012/2013. Your minister of trade, Mr. Anand Sharma was the Indian government’s representative in Hamburg.

The city of Hamburg, together with Port of Hamburg Marketing and the Hamburg chamber of commerce have had a representative office in Mumbai since early 2011. It is my sincere opinion that India and Germany are determined to expand and extend their cultural as well as their economic and trade ties. Which will be mutually beneficial.

I am looking forward to many insights from this event and to the exchange of ideas this afternoon. 

Thank you.