Merkel promises to increase government's speed in times of rapid change

BERLIN, March 15 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has called on her government to speed up legislative initiatives. "We are undergoing very rapid change and very disruptive change," she said after the summit meeting of the German business community.

"The pace must accelerate," Merkel said at the meeting in Munich, which took place under the slogan "open markets - open-minded country". She emphasized that "we must find answers to these questions more quickly".

Before the top-level meeting of the four major German trade associations at the International Trade Fair in Munich, the associations reiterated their criticism of the German government.

Dieter Kempf, president of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), complained that the government had not done much for the economy. "So far, the grand coalition has redistributed a lot and invested little. We are not leading the country or the next generation into the future."

"We have to make sure that we finally get to grips with the important issues in Germany," said Eric Schweitzer, president of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK). Schweitzer called for the German government to reform corporate taxes and to "tackle the issues" of digital infrastructure and competitive electricity prices.

In a joint statement published on Friday, the German trade associations called for a reduction of the tax burden for companies and businesses to 25 percent. The associations also demanded that family businesses and SMEs should be better accounted for in the national industrial strategy of the German government.

In February, Economics Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) presented the industrial strategy 2030 that is seeking to make Germany's industry more competitive internationally. The strategy advocated for open markets, strengthening multilateralism and creating internationally comparable framework conditions for a "level playing field".

A central course of action in the German national strategy is the strengthening of key technologies such as digitization, artificial intelligence and battery cell production, according to Altmaier's ministry.

"The coalition is engaged in social policy and forgets to prepare Germany for the future," warned Ingo Kramer, president of the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA) and criticized that the coalition was "assuming a never-ending boom, but now the economy is clouding over and the coalition agreement is no longer up to date."