,,Recovering the turf"

MANNHEIM/SIDNEY With the takeover of Australia's second largest construction company, the Bilfinger Berger AG is continuing its expansion abroad. To the German economy and Berlin's foreign policy, the country represents a spring board to all of Southeast Asia, where Berlin wants to exercise its influence against the diminishing hegemony of the USA and the coming great power of China. The dominating position of the Anglo-American states in Australia is said to deprive Berlin ,,of a formerly effective instrument for creating bonds of long duration between the Southeast Asian elites and Germany".

The German corporation, which already obtains 60 percent of its sales abroad, had declared earlier that it would use its ,,war chest", filled with a billion Euro in all, for acquisitions abroad in order to balance Germany's weak business activity in construction. Bilfingers board, responsible for business activities abroad, announced further acquisitions in Poland and the USA. Bilfinger Berger already recorded several major contracts in Asia. With the takeover of Abigroup Ltd. in Sydney, the German construction company wants to rise to second position in the Australian construction market. One of its subsidiaries has already been active during the past ten years in the growing infrastructure market in Australia.

Creation of ,,bonds with Germany"

For German foreign policy, Australia signifies an important building block in the ,,permanent securing of German foreign economic interests in Southeast Asia."There, Berlin hopes to profit from its opposition to the USA in the dispute over the war in Iraq by extending its influence. This goal is served further by ,,Aktionsplan Partnerschaft 2000"(plan of action partnership 2000) with which ,,intensive, future oriented bilateral relations"are to be developed, particularly by politically supporting German economic expansion in Australia, under the auspices of the Foreign Office, the Australian Foreign and Trade Ministry and the German Economic Ministry.

Southeast Asia could become ,,a dynamic growth region for the global (...) economy and thus become a more significant market for Germany,"states the ,,Asia concept"of the Foreign Office, which demands special efforts to prevail over competitors in carrying through its global power claim: ,,The greatest majority of the future elites of Southeast Asia are being trained in the English-speaking countries (Great Britain, USA and, increasingly Australia) and have been influenced for the long term by these countries. (...) This deprives us of a previously effective instrument to create long term bonds between the Southeast Asian elites and Germany and, thus, to have promotional testimonies 'in place' to the economic, political and cultural attractiveness of our country. Thus we will have to increase our efforts considerably to recover this turf."

Sources:
Aktionsplan Partnerschaft 2000; www.auswaertiges-amt.de
Bilfinger Berger strebt Zukaeufe im Ausland an; Financial Times Deutschland 15.04.2003
Bilfinger Berger geht bald auf Shopping-Tour; Handelsblatt 21.08.2003
Bilfinger verstaerkt sich in Australien; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 24.10.2003


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