Economic summit at the VBKI

Franziska Giffey meets leading business representatives

It was a select group that had gathered in the Goldbergersaal: at the invitation of the VBKI and Tagesspiegel, the "100 most important minds in Berlin's economy" had come to talk to the Berlin Senator for Economics and each other.

In a series of articles of the same name, the Tagesspiegel had presented and honored leading business representatives in the weeks prior to the event. According to Tagesspiegel editor-in-chief Lorenz Maroldt at the beginning of the event, the selection criteria remained under wraps, much like the Coca-Cola recipe. Only this much: the topics of impact, visibility and commitment in and for the city played an important role.

VBKI President Markus Voigt praised the series for giving a face to the often abstractly discussed topic of business and for creating connections between two worlds of the Berlin economy that often remain separate - the up-and-coming newcomers of the booming start-up scene and the established economy. He expressed his desire to bring the two worlds closer together in future. "I am convinced that a closer exchange could leverage enormous potential for the city and the location."

In her speech, Franziska Giffey reviewed the path to the governing coalition and then gave an outlook on the opportunities and prospects for the capital region as a business location: "We need pragmatic, sensible and, in some cases, civic-minded policies," said the Senator for Economic Affairs. Despite all the unresolved issues, it is important not to forget the successful economic development of the location. Berlin continues to grow significantly faster than the national average, and this development should also shape the future: "We want to make Berlin the number one innovation location in Europe."

 You can find a report from the Tagesspiegel here "

The two heads of the Tagesspiegel's "Berlin Economy" team, Tanja Buntrock and Kevin Hoffmann, then invited nine selected representatives of the "100 Köpfe" to the stage and introduced them in a kind of "question and answer game". These brief highlights alone made it clear how diverse Berlin's economy is - both in terms of the people involved and the business models. They included Dr. Sigrid Nikutta, head of DB Cargo and member of the Deutsche Bahn Management Board, Irene Selvanathan, founder and head of the young and ambitious Berlin spin-off Neurospace, Oliver Mackprang, head of Germany's largest car-sharing company "Miles" ("Only BVG has more vehicles on Berlin's streets") and Dr. Georg Friedrichs, who as head of GASAG plays a central role on Berlin's path to becoming a climate-neutral city.