Interview with Peter Feldmann (SPD), Lord Mayor of the City of Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt am Main and Dubai have been twin cities since 2005. Frankfurt’s Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann (SPD) visited the twin city for the first time in 2014. During his stay in Dubai, Lord Mayor Feldmann took the time to answer questions from The Kroisos Newsleaf.
The Kroisos Newsleaf: The Deutsche Börse Group, German banks, financial service providers from Frankfurt are hardly noticeable in the Arab world. In a tremendous contrast to the Anglo-Saxon competition. Additionally only a few players from the UAE are represented in Frankfurt. Do you take that for granted? Or what could do the city Frankfurt?
Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann: In fact, there are not many UAE banks in Frankfurt so far. Europe’s largest financial centre, London, is ahead of the pack. In this respect, the British capital offers better tax conditions for financial transactions and lower regulations in investment banking. However, Frankfurt can score points with its better quality of life and infrastructure compared to London and as a location for many institutions. In addition, there are now a number of initiatives in the region to promote the financial centre.
In March 2014, for example, representatives of the Deutsche Bundesbank and the People’s Bank of China signed a declaration of intent to set up a clearing bank in Frankfurt to handle payment transactions in the Chinese currency Renminbi. The Frankfurt Main Finance association, which is the voice of the financial centre, is also working successfully in Frankfurt. Under a catchy umbrella brand, we effectively position Germany’s most important financial centre in national and global competition.
Dr. Lutz Raettig, Speaker of the Executive Committee Frankfurt Main Finance, is also part of our delegation here in Dubai.
In addition, a new initiative was launched – The Arab-German Banking Initiative. The Business Development Department also recently joined the initiative and supports it.
The Kroisos Newsleaf: Dubai and Frankfurt have been twin cities since 2005. But according to my observations, very little has been done so far. What initiatives are you planning to stimulate this partnership?
Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann: The twinning with Dubai has so far focused on municipal expertise and the promotion of economic cooperation. Other noteworthy events in the past, in addition to the citizens’ trip to Dubai in 2006, included various visits by delegations from Dubai to the Frankfurt Trade Fair and the celebrations to mark the anniversary year of the city partnerships with representatives from twelve twin cities. In addition, young people from Dubai regularly take part in the Goethe-Institut’s summer course for the best German pupils from Frankfurt’s twin cities.
Due to the extremely different and very heterogeneous structure of Dubai’s urban society (around 90 % expats) compared to European cities, it is unlikely that citizens will be able to exchange ideas with associations and schools to the same extent as with other partner cities, which are more homogeneous in their urban society. This my delegation trip to Dubai was the first of an acting Frankfurt city leader since the foundation of the city friendship. The stay was primarily under the aspect of economic cooperation, opened up new perspectives and contributed to the development of mutual understanding and trust. The result of the trip is that in future we want to exchange ideas.
Especially on the topics of sustainable urban development, ecological building, solar technology and the World Expo 2020.
The Kroisos Newsleaf: Unlike the USA, China, Japan, Korea, India, France and Great Britain, the GCC countries are not among the strategic target countries of FrankfurtRheinMain GmbH (FRM). What do you think makes the countries of the Arabian Peninsula attractive anyway?
Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann: FrankfurtRheinMain GmbH (FRM) has a total of around 40 target countries. These were classified according to their processing priority and intensity according to in-depth analyses. Countries such as the USA or China are “A” countries, which are processed with very high intensity, i.e. financial and personnel expenditure. The UAE belongs to the category “country of observation”. FRM uses suitable opportunities, such as my trip to Dubai, to further explore future potentials in this market. Interesting for the FRM activities in the UAE are the financial sector and tourism, and here of course also under the aspect that the FrankfurtRheinMain GmbH has the entire region in view, then the health tourism sector. Investments by hotel groups and airlines are also part of the focus.
The Kroisos Newsleaf: What is the purpose of the event here in the UAE?
Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann: As I said, the UAE is, albeit with a low priority, one of the target countries of FRM GmbH. There are already a pretty fine number of investment projects from the UAE in FrankfurtRhineMain. Let me name two, such as the Jumeirah Hotel in Frankfurt or the Emirates airline. Our research has shown that there is also future potential from the UAE to the region.
When establishing contacts, personal contact with investment decision-makers in companies is particularly important.
Our business meeting “Frankfurt meets Dubai” offered a very good platform for this. It is also important for us to stress time and again that something is happening in Frankfurt and the region. When we, as people who live in the region with our families, talk about the quality of life in the city and region in many one-on-one meetings in Dubai, it is simply authentic and convincing. This is how we always create new multipliers.
The Kroisos Newsleaf: Is the FrankfurtRhineMain region on the Arabian Peninsula breaking new ground or are there already contacts?
Which industries and groups of people do you advertise for here? What makes Frankfurt Rhine-Main particularly attractive for investments from the Gulf states?
Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann: “This trip gave us the opportunity to build on past activities in the UAE; in 2008 we already carried out a fact-finding trip to Dubai. Here, too, it became apparent that our region is particularly interesting for Arab banks due to our leading financial centre in continental Europe. We have also been represented at various health fairs to promote health tourism. In addition, the real estate sector and the airport, Germany’s leading hub for freight and passenger traffic, are attracting investments from the UAE. Anyone who wants to keep an eye on European markets and customers and work efficiently can hardly wish for a better location than FrankfurtRhineMain.
The Kroisos Newslaf: A large proportion of the approximately 10,000 Germans living in the UAE come from Hessen.
Does this fact also play a role in FRM activities?
Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann: You are addressing a potential I would certainly not underestimate. Companies with a seat in the FrankfurtRhineMain region active in FRM target countries are by one hand important cooperation partners. By the other one they are important ambassadors for the economic metropolis of Frankfurt Rhine-Main abroad. Company representatives regularly accompany us on our delegation trips. As they say in English, “to hear it from the horses mouth” still beats any colour brochure.
The Kroisos Newsleaf: Football is at least as popular in Arabia as it is in Germany. So let us make A brief excursion into sport. Eintracht Frankfurt has been coming to Abu Dhabi for winter training for two years now. And here in Dubai exists the first official Eintracht fan club with the club name “EFC Bembel Beduinen”. Are you intending to support this club by the city of Frankfurt in the future?
Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann: The City of Frankfurt promotes the exchange between the twin cities according to special guidelines. These projects are organised by the associations and social groups themselves. The Frankfurt associations are supported, which maintain an exchange with their respective partner organisations in the twin cities. This also applies to the exchange programs of schools and social non-profit groups. An essential prerequisite for the promotion of group exchanges is the host function on a reciprocal basis – usually in host families.
The Kroisos Newsleaf: Many thanks for the opportunity to talked to you!
The interview conducts ©Dr. Andreas Gulya
