Status: 09.05.2023 8:00 p.m
Hamburg wants to strengthen its industry in the coming years – especially in view of rising energy prices and climate change. Business, trade unions and the Senate have agreed on key points in a new “Industry 2023 master plan”, which was signed in the town hall on Tuesday.
Hamburg is the largest industrial city in Germany, around 180,000 people work in the companies. According to the Economic Authority, 40 percent of turnover in the Hamburg economy is attributable to the industrial sector. But Matthias Boxberger, head of the Hamburg Industry Association, warned: “Hamburg’s industry is in crisis mode – and has been for several years.”
100 hectares of space reserved for industry
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To counteract this, business and politics have agreed to keep 100 hectares of new space available for industry at all times, so that companies can expand or relocate. That is something very concrete in a city-state, said Economics Senator Melanie Leonhard (SPD). In addition, approvals – for example for plant expansions – should be granted more quickly. A commitment to dual vocational training in industrial companies is also laid down in the plan, as are the Köhlbrand crossing and the A26 east infrastructure projects.
Tschentscher calls for cheap electricity for industry
Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) and his North German state colleagues are campaigning at the federal level for industry to get cheap electricity for a limited period of time. Tschentscher: “Now the hut is on fire and relief must be provided quickly.” If energy-intensive companies produce abroad instead of in Hamburg, then that’s bad for jobs and for the climate, according to Tschentscher. This is because production in Germany is comparatively environmentally friendly.
AUDIO: “Masterplan Industry” signed in Hamburg (1 min)
CDU and AfD criticize Senate
The chairman of the CDU parliamentary group, Dennis Thering, said: I can hear the message, but I lack the belief. The red-green Senate is at odds on important issues, the Greens in particular would thwart projects such as the A26 East. Economic policy spokesman for the Hamburg AfD parliamentary group, Krzysztof Walczak, warned of the threat of de-industrialization and the associated loss of prosperity. The master plan is peppered with climate policy specifications that would inhibit industry and business.
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