From 24 to 26 October, the 18th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business (APK) took place in New Delhi - a central forum for German-Asian cooperation. CEO & Founder Dr Fritz Audebert travelled to India together with Jannik Heckenhahn, Manager Global Talent Strategy at ICUnet.Group, to attend the conference and experience the latest developments and opportunities in this dynamic region. In this article, he shares his personal impressions with us!
Incredible India - A country full of opportunities and a partnership for the future
It was a great pleasure for me to attend the 18th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business (APK) in New Delhi together with my colleague Jannik Heckenhahn. After this year's Neuburger Gesprächskreis symposium, which was already focused on India, the APK was a further inspiring step towards delving deeper into the potential of German-Indian relations in the future.
India impresses me in many ways: the number of airports has doubled in just ten years to 200! The growth opportunities are immense at 6.9% this year. The level of growth is expected to remain as high in the years to come. Investments in infrastructure now account for 18% of the national budget. You can see that everywhere you look, with construction, modernisation and new ideas.
There are also around 50,000 Indian students in Germany – the largest group of foreign students in the Federal Republic – who could mean great opportunities for the German labour market. We just have to succeed in integrating them and thereby reduce our skills gap. The federal government is responding to the shortage of skilled workers and has increased the annual visa approvals for skilled workers from 20,000 to 90,000 with immediate effect.
With a population of 1.4 billion, India is the most populous country in the world. Nevertheless, the differences between India and Germany are immense: the average age in India is 28.4 years and the GDP per capita is €2,697 (compared to Germany: 44.6 years and €50,795). These figures do not show that there are now over 40 million Indians in a middle class comparable to Germany's. With purchasing power, interested in new things and willing to invest a lot, this is how this group of Indians is described.
For me, the highlights of the conference included, in particular, the meetings with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck, Minister for Labour Hubertus Heil, Minister for Education Bettina Stark-Watzinger, H.E. Ambassador Dr. Philipp Ackermann and the Indian Minister for Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal.
The discussions on the topic ‘Reshaping Globalisation’ and the concept of ‘Triple D: Derisking, Decoupling, Diversification’ were also impressive, providing deep insights into how companies can position themselves in this new era of globalisation.
Germany's Chancellor Scholz spoke about his vision of closer cooperation and the great need for a future free trade agreement between the EU and India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the importance of the skilled worker visa programme and welcomed German investment – a clear sign of the openness and opportunity that lies in this partnership. Despite some differences, Germany and India are an ideal powerhouse!
I am thrilled by the visions and the energy that the country radiates. This trip has shown me once again how valuable international exchange is. A shared path full of potential and possibilities lies before Germany and India, and our German business community in particular could and should explore it with curiosity, openness and full of energy.
