The German economy and IBM Corp have a lot in common these days, and German industry needs to respond to international competition or face a further decline of its manufacturing base, the president of IBM Europe said in Berlin yesterday: according to Reuter, Hans-Olaf Henkel said that high wage costs, short working hours, high corporate taxes, stringent environmental laws and bureaucratic delays were making Germany an increasingly unattractive place for manufacturers – We need to adopt a vision of competitiveness in which we can all live well in the future, Henkel said – The French, English, Japanese and Americans see nothing wrong with competition; they see the need for a competitive society, whereas in Germany it is all so difficult; speaking to German businessmen in the newly designated capital, he noted that since unification, Germany’s per-capita income has slipped from number one in the European Community to seventh, and German manufacturing jobs will continue to be exported; he added that when Japanese firms invest in production sites in Europe, they usually avoid Germany and choose countries such as England, Spain, Portugal and France – Even in Holland they invest twice as much as in Germany.
