Hamburg
An Emerging Leader in
Wind Power Generation

Both India and Germany are better positioned than most other countries in the world to get over the current financial crisis, thanks to the robust banking system and higher domestic savings rate. That's what Senator Axel Gedaschko, Minister for Economics & Labour of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg says. Speaking to Open Trade here during the 'India Week'.

All countries including Germany is eventually getting affected by the current economic meltdown and liquidity crisis. We are in a better position to combat the crisis, thanks to our strong banking system and a very high domestic savings rate. He further adds, We had meetings with the leading bankers and insurance companies in Germany and got the feeling that there is no reason to press the panic button. And my knowledge is that the same is true with India.

We should go ahead with our development plans.

At this time when Tulsi Tanti-owned Suzlon Energy GmbH is well set to raise its stake in RE Power from 75 per cent to 100 per cent in order to fortify its European design and development center even further, which is already dedicated to the design and development of state-of-the-art Wind Turbine Generator, Hamburg - An emerging leader in wind power generation model to the rest of the world, particularly India, the Minister for Economics said.

Hamburg-based companies are also keen on developing major ports in India and discussions are on to this effect between different Indian and German companies. "Hamburg being one of the largest ports in the world, we just have the right expertise and technical knowledge base to offer such services. Hamburg Port Consultants, the largest company, has already initiated moves to mark its presence in India. But what is standing in the way is lack of co-ordination among various ministries and also lack of linkages among railways, roadways and waterways," Gedaschko said.

More than 35 Indian companies in various sectors like IT, energy, trading and bio-chem, are present in Hamburg while nearly 500 Hamburg companies are active in India. But the potentials are much more and to tap the potentials, Hamburg Senate Hamburg Business Development Corporation, Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, KPMG and the German Indian Round Table have been organizing India Week since last year.

Indian Indusry should explore possibilities to tap the large European market through Hamburg, as Hamburg is the gateway to Europe.

Great Scope for Mid-Sized Companies
Providing Specialized Services

In 1942, Subhash Chandra Bose escaped his Elgin Road residence in Kolkata (where he was under house arrest) to reach Germany. With cooperation of Germany and Japan against British Empire, he began his regular broadcasts from Radio Berlin, which aroused tremendous enthusiasm in India. Bose also founded the Free India Centre in Berlin, and created the Indian Legion (consisting of some 4500 soldiers) out of Indian prisoners of war who had previously fought for the British in North Africa prior to their capture by Axis forces.

Sixty six years down the line, Netaji's grand nephew is also building his business empire, seeking German cooperation. Meet Surya Bose (59), grand nephew of Netaji and Founder and Managing Director of Bose Information Technologies. Bose's Hamburg-based company happens to be the first set of companies, which designed and developed the initial processing system of the Airspares division of Airbus. Airbus has its Airspares divisions in Washington, Tokyo, Tullos and Hamburg. "There have been many other companies including some of the IT biggies, which have designed and worked on this system since then. But our system is still in place at Airbus and they are quite happy with it," says an upbeat Bose.

Quite like his grand uncle, Surya Bose is also facilitating and fostering Indo-German cooperation, albeit in the field of business (and also in cultural areas, the junior Bose hastens to add). He is one of the men instrumental in organizing India Week in Hamburg, Germany.

Bose, who has led several business and particularly IT delegation from Germany to India, feels that there is enormous scope for mid-sized Indian IT companies to set up shops in Hamburg. "Most of the IT biggies including Infosys, Wipro, Satyam and TCS had preferred to acquire smaller and mid-sized IT companies here to start off their German operations. They are mostly into body leasing and look at mass market business. But I think there are some mid-sized IT companies in India, which offer outstanding specialized services. There is a great scope for company providing specialized IT services here and these mid-sized companies can come and team up with their counterparts here. Geological System, for one, is one such area," Bose added.

"SME is the backbone of the German economy and Indian small and mid-sized companies can actually infiltrate into the German economy with some quality products and services if there is a proper coordination among the front-end, back-end and customers-end. Indian IT companies have technical know-how in abundance but in order to acquire the right user knowledge or particular domain knowledge of a particular industry, they have to be here," adds Bose.

Hamburg government knows that offshore works, if done properly and in a planned manner, can actually generate jobs locally and there it is not and will not be a contentions issue here, Bose assures.
By R. Mukherjee

Hamburg, a Gateway to
European Market
RA Heinrich Lieser

For the State authorities, Hamburg is not just a city state but a brand, which they are keen on building and promoting and marketing to the rest of the world.

"For us Hamburg is a brand, which we are very carefully promoting, quite like any other strong brand. Hamburg has a positioning as a destination of civil aviation, logistics industries and port related business, anyways and now we are planning to position it as an ideal destination for SME sector, particularly the Indian SME sector," RA Heinrich Lieser, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Hamburg Marketing GmbH, owned by the Hamburg Mayor and the State, told Open Trade.

“India Week 2008 in Hamburg” India is a fast growing economy and an increasingly interesting trade partner for Hamburg. The attractiveness of the Indian domestic market is as much important as the cost-reducing advantages for the international buying markets. The Indian economy boasts of financially highly potential and innovative companies, who are global players on the world's markets. In total, approximately 35 Indian companies are present in the Hamburg Metropolitan Area, with figures rising. In return, some 500 Hamburg companies are active in India. To strengthen these business ties and to broaden the bilateral contacts the Hamburg Senate, HWF Hamburg Business Development Corporation, Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, KPMG, the German Indian Round Table, the Technical University Hamburg-Harburg, ELGA Biotech, and other institutions and organizations dealing with India launched ;last year the first “India Week” in Hamburg. Last year the second “India Week”, took place on November 9-16, which offered manifold business options between Hamburg and India.

"We know that the Indian SME sector is growing and has tremendous potential. If some of them are looking at the European markets, Hamburg is the gateway to European market and will be the best location for them to set their shops. We had an excellent response from the first India calling week and the second India calling week has evoked equally good response. There are more than 35 Indian companies which are already operating out of Hamburg like TCS, Satyam Computers, Teekay Marine, FSL Germany, Intrakonti etc.” Leiser mentioned.

“We have set up a single-window facilitation centre for foreign companies and investors. Hamburg is a nice city with excellent cosmopolitan work culture. There are excellent education and healthcare facilities available geographically and historically it is the gateway to the European markets and the government doesn't stand in the way. So you have everything. Hamburg's other strong points is its scientific research and innovation.” Leiser added while promoting a brand called Hamburg.

Science and technology institutes 'The Hansatic City of Hamburg has been the right place for research and development as industry strives to introduce new products, processes and services. And we are also keen on drawing more and more Indian students to these institutes and that too on a regular basis. Indian talent pool is in much demand here. As many as 200 Indian engineers are already working with Airbus here," he said.

Hotel Atlantic
Hospitality at its best

The Hotel Atlantic Kempinski Hamburg is beautifully located on lake Alster and is right in the heart of Hamburg. The high-ceilinged bedrooms and suites are exquisitely furnished with the needs of today's luxury traveller in mind, reflecting a new approach to elegant service.

Hotel Atlantic opened its doors almost a century ago in 1909, discerning travellers have appreciated the great Hanseatic tradition of the Hotel Atlantic Kempinski Hamburg.

An unique blend of classical cuisine and modern elements in the Atlantic Restaurant, genuine Chinese and Continental cuisine and other unique delicacies.

‘Private Max’ is a private cinema with original cinema technique and equipment available for installation in rooms from 12 square meters.

Movie pleasure in a completely equipped cinema that ranks a modern multiplex or a cinema centre. Its main difference to commercial movie theatres is its size, as it has been installed in a room of approximately 30 square meters and features the latest video techniques and premium DVD with the experience, the atmosphere and the technique of modern, big cinemas in an unique private setting. It is available 24 hours a day and can also play host to corporate presentations and any kind of television broadcasts.

September 11, 2006 will remain of special importance to the hotel as it is the date when the hotel's quality management system has been certified to DIN EN ISO 9001:2000. The famous hotel in Hamburg is the first German grand hotel with ISO 9001:2000 which is the standard for quality management systems (QM System) and defines the basic requirements expected in a QM System throughout the world and covering every type of industry. It applies to the processes that the hotel accomplishes its work and meets the customers' requirements.

“The way to certification meant an enormous challenge to us, but at the same time it was a kind of adventure with a lot of things to learn for our daily work and many opportunities to go from strength to strength”, says Sebastian Heinemann, Managing Director of the Hotel Atlantic Kempinski Hamburg.

Hotel Atlantic and BMW Group Niederlassung, Hamburg have presented the BMW Suite in an exclusive world premiere. The BMW Suite is located on the third floor of the hotel, directly under the suite known as the 'James Bond Suite', in which scenes from 'Tomorrow Never Dies' were filmed.

The extensive list of prestigious guests includes eminent leaders like Vladimir Putin, the Shah of Iran, Rabindranath Tagore and stars like Michael Jackson, Sean Connery, Kim Basinger, and Madonna to name a few.

The hotel has witnessed shootings of famous films like the James Bond movie “Tomorrow Never Dies” including many German and European films.

Ultimate comfort, perfect service and uncompromising culinary excellence: tradition demands efforts to result in nothing less. The fact that perfection often lies in the little things, even the smallest detail is considered important.