The future prospects of the chemical-pharmaceutical industry are extremely negative under the current industrial policy framework. This is the conclusion of a survey among specialists and managers in the companies and research institutions of the sector. However, the high quality of training and the proximity between companies and science in technology development offer hope. The survey was conducted among members of the VAA (Association of Specialists and Managers in the Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industry) and DECHEMA (German Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology). Representatives of both associations are calling for a radical change in industrial policy.
– High energy prices and lengthy approval processes weaken Germany as a location
– Training, production infrastructure, and proximity to science are rated positively
– Industrial policy framework must be urgently improved so that German industry can rely on its own strengths and secure its position at the forefront of the world
As part of the survey, members of VAA and DECHEMA evaluated, among other things, the importance of a total of 17 location factors for the continued existence of jobs. The most important influencing factors mentioned were the level of energy prices, the level of training and the availability of skilled workers, the stability of the industrial policy framework, and the availability of raw materials.
The level of energy prices is also the location factor to which survey participants attribute the most negative influence on the continued existence of jobs with a rating. Also highly weighted and particularly critically assessed were the duration and complexity of approval processes for the construction of new production facilities and government administrative processes overall. In contrast, participants see a positive influence through the performance of the existing production infrastructure and proximity to scientific institutions.
In view of the survey results, Dr. Christoph Gürtler, Vice Chairman of the VAA, calls on political decision-makers for a radical change in industrial policy: "If Germany's chemical and pharmaceutical location with its highly efficient value chains is to be preserved, energy prices must be reliably capped at an internationally competitive level and the much-invoked measures for deregulation must finally be implemented." This applies more than ever against the backdrop of the reduction in highly qualified industrial jobs already announced by several chemical and pharmaceutical companies.
When positioning the German chemical and pharmaceutical industry in international competition, survey participants see strengths and weaknesses: Training is rated as very good or rather good by around half of respondents, and openness to technology by a third. In contrast, only 13 percent are open to technology in society. Among participants from DECHEMA, only one in ten respondents rates this competitive factor as very good or good. More than a quarter of these participants work at universities, Fraunhofer Institutes, or other research institutions. DECHEMA members are also particularly critical of Germany's position in international competition when it comes to the implementation of new technologies. DECHEMA Managing Director Dr. Andreas Förster: “Germany is a world-leading location for research and development in chemistry, chemical engineering, and biotechnology, and we have excellent networking between science and industry in the technical sciences. We must leverage this potential to develop solutions for global challenges and thereby also strengthen Germany as a technology location.”
