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Martin Herrenknecht: Chinese investment could have quite threatening dimensions for locally and regionally established trade
Lahr. A small town in Germany. 50 thousand souls living there. In deep south-west of Germany just on the French border. It has an airport once used by Canadian occupation troops after the WWII. It brought some action to the economy of this sleepy town.
After German unification,Canadian troops vacated the airfield. Local authorities tried many times to attract civil aviation. All tries failed.
But now the China discovered the potential of the airport. Just at the junction point of Germany, France, Belgium. Close to a railway. Close to the Rhine river. They want to invest 200 million Euros to convert the place to an international air hub. For China's Belt and Road initiative. The new silk road.
Everybody is happy as crazy. Well, not everybody. One man does not like the idea.
And not any man. He is the one who leased the airport in 2013. Saved it from closing down. When nobody was around to save the airport. He is also a very successful businessman. An important man for the economy of the region. He is none other than Mr Martin Herrenknecht. The founder and director of Herrenknecht TBM company.
Mr Herrenknecht uses the airport for his private jet. His company transports Tunnel Boring Machines and parts to all over the world also from this airport. He also employs thousands of people.
"Wherever Chinese investors start with attractive infrastructures in Europe, first the money and then 'Made in China' comes with full force,"
Read interesting story in this article and Mr Herrenknecht's reported opinions:
What Martin Heerenknecht says is very true. Chinese are coming and they are coming to dominate. On its own, nothing is wrong with this, because Europe, USA have been doing the same for the last few centuries.
Having said this, I cannot be the one playing an impartial fool in this powerplay. In this specific case, you have to defend what is close to you simply because it is in your interests. Simply because if all critical manufactring moves to China and far east, or to USA for that matter, it will be a disaster for the welfare of Europe. Therefore everything (as long as it is humane and certainly not genocidal things like the Iraq oil war of Europe and USA) must be done to protect Europe's upper hand in critical manufacturing.
There are two interconnected ways of protecting Europe's manufacturing base: The first is innovation and the secondly, even more importantly, to fiercely defend the intellectual rights gained from the innovation work.
We started loosing when we started selling our companies and technologies to China. Example: when CREG bought German TBM company Wirth, they did not only buy brick and mortar factory. They took over also technology.
European firms must relentlessly defend intellectual rights. But it is not done. Future is very bleak.
cover tunnel photo by: Matt Brown from London, England / CC BY
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I paste my past comment. Similar subject.
Yes. In a West dominated World everything must be built by Herrenknecht, Robbins and other western companies. For more than a century European and American companies have been building in Asia, including China. And for once, when a China company attempts to build something in Europe, suddenly `Chinese are invading`. No comment.,