Germany's mechanical engineering industry association is calling for the sector to make investments despite a looming downturn.
"We do not have a crisis in mechanical engineering," Mathias Kammueller, chairman of the board for the VDMA association in Baden-Wuerttemberg, said on Monday following a high-level meeting at the German state's economics ministry in Stuttgart.
But there is a high probability that a downturn similar to the financial crisis 10 years ago could occur, he added. Kammueller believes that his sector should see the economic slowdown as an opportunity to invest in digitalisation, research and education.
"Because mechanical engineering can only strengthen its leading position worldwide if companies resolutely tackle future issues such as Industry 4.0, artifical intelligence and mobility," said Kammueller, who also helps manage the Ditzingen-based machine tool manufacturer Trumpf.
This approach requires a good environment, he added.
Mechanical engineering is among the most important sectors in south-western Germany, with its more than 300,000 employees. In 2018, incoming orders had significantly declined by year end.
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