Made in Germany: The Business Magazine

This week's studio guest: Jürgen Wöhler, Secretary-General, Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and IndustryDW-TV: Let's pull in Jürgen Wöhler. He is head of the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce. We're going to talk about Asia in this era of budget cutting in a just a minute, Mr. Wöhler. But first, let's talk about Germany. 80 billion euros in cuts here. Your opinion. A necessary evil? Jürgen Wöhler: Yes, certainly, if you look at the indebtness of Germany and the budget situation, certainly Germany should also give a good example to its European neighbours. DW-TV: You are very sensitive to what consumers want. Obviously you talk to business people all the time, particularly in the exporting industry. Attached to these budget cuts here in Germany we've got new taxes on nuclear power plants, new taxes on the airlines. A lot of people are saying this is a hidden tax that will then be forwarded on to the consumer. Are you worried about consumer spending right here in your home market? Jürgen Wöhler: I do not really care that much on the German market because I live in Korea and, obviously, in Korea things would go much different. DW-TV: Yes, but it's important what happens in this market for businesses in Korea. They want to sell their goods to Germany. Jürgen Wöhler: Yes, but I think it's consumer goods which Korea delivers to Germany while Germany delivers to Korea more investment goods. And I think the consumption will remain stable in Germany. DW-TV: What do business people abroad, particularly in South Korea where you are, what do they tell you, what are their impressions about the health of the European economy right now? Jürgen Wöhler: We hear not very encouraging news but I'm rather confident. If you see how Germany went along over the last years and especially through the crisis 2008, 2009, we are quite confident that Germany will be the first country to really recover. DW-TV: Do you hear people saying that perhaps the Europeans could learn from the Asians who had their own crisis in the late 90s? Jürgen Wöhler: Yes, Asians are getting more and more self confident and giving good advice to the Europeans and the stimulus packages which you have seen in Asia during the last crisis 2008, 2009, have been very impressive and positive. DW-TV: Is it all that simple, Mr. Wöhler? German companies are enjoying endless demand for their products in Asia right now? Jürgen Wöhler: Yes, we have the right products, especially industrial products, which are needed for the enormous investment boom in Asia, and with the rising quality of Asian products for the world market, they need more and more components from Germany. And especially with Korea, with the upcoming free trade agreement from beginning next year, exports will grow over proportionally. DW-TV: Let's talk a little bit about South Korea. That is your area of expertise. We've got a graphic here we want to show people. Last year, Germany exported almost 8 billion euros of goods to South Korea and we can talk about a healthy trade balance here. South Korea sold 7 and a half billion euros of goods to Germany in 2009. Which sectors, Mr. Wöhler, are enjoying the strongest trade? Jürgen Wöhler: Well, number one is machinery, second is chemicals and third is cars and car components. And all three sectors will certainly gain in the years to come. DW-TV: There are a lot of people here in Germany, here in Europe, who criticise Asia, China in particular, by saying that a lot of companies there are buying up the technological know how and then producing goods at home, which they're afraid is going to hurt demand for exports coming from Europe. How do you see that? Jürgen Wöhler: That might be true for China. For Korea certainly not, because the technical quality and the technology in Korean products is so advanced that you cannot just copy, you have to co-operate also in research and develpment with German suppliers. DW-TV: Let's talk money for a second. The euro, of-course, at a four-year low against the greeback. Are you glad to see that? Are companies in South Korea now lining up to buy more goods because they're cheaper? Jürgen Wöhler: I think there is no reason for any panic because we are still below purchasing power parity and for the German export industry, which suffered a lot in 2007, 2008, that's just a wonderful gift. DW-TV: Yeah, a gift. I have to ask you before we let you go: France has been saying, to help in this economic crisis, Germany should reduce its exports. It says the trading position is unfair for other European economies. What do you say to that? Jürgen Wöhler: I see just the opposite. So, if everybody would work like we do, then everybody would be much better off and Germany, unlike the Asian countries, we are spending our excess income from export as tourists. Germany is tourist world champion and the French, Italian, Spanish are rather not travelling to Germany. DW-TV: They don't need to. Jürgen Wöhler: We go there, so far, no reason. DW-TV: All right, Mr. Wöhler, as always, thanks for taking the time to come in and talk with us. Interview: Brent Geoff