Press Release No. 03/2014 Detlef Wetzel: “Industry is the engine of growth and innovation”

Frankfurt am Main – Detlef Wetzel, President of IG Metall, has called on the government and businesses to invest more in infrastructure, research, and development in the near future. “I’m glad that policymakers no longer have to look up the word ‘industry’ in the Duden dictionary. Our industry is the engine of growth and innovation. That is why it is right to invest more in infrastructure, research, and development. But we cannot stop at declarations of intent; we expect concrete guidelines for businesses and the government soon,” said Wetzel following Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government policy statement on Wednesday in Frankfurt. “It is unacceptable that the DAX will soon reach 10,000 points while Germany, the world’s leading exporter, simultaneously has an investment rate below the OECD average. At least an additional 100 billion euros per year must be spent on infrastructure and investments in research and development,” said the president of IG Metall.

Wetzel noted that the coalition agreement sets a target of an investment rate above the OECD average. From 1999 to 2012, this rate in Germany was about four percentage points lower than the OECD average. A corresponding increase of four percentage points would amount to around 100 billion euros per year. IG Metall is therefore calling not only for more government investment in dilapidated bridges and railways. “Despite record profits, corporate investment has been declining for decades. That has to change. When we talk about intergenerational justice, we should above all be talking about investment,” said Wetzel.