German construction industry urges govt to spur building

17 December 2008 16:59  [Source: ICIS news]

TORONTO (ICIS news)--Germany’s construction firms want federal, state and municipal governments to accelerate public investments to counter the expected sharp decline in building activity next year, they said on Wednesday.

The global financial and economic crisis had caught up with construction firms which had enjoyed good business right up till the end of September, said Bauindustrieverband Berlin-Brandenburg, a regional building industry association.

However, since October new orders had collapsed, the association said and pointed to sharp declines in public, commercial and private building orders in Brandenburg state and the Berlin capital region.

Association president Peter Tessmer called for a “round table” with governments to quickly decide on public and infrastructure projects to at least partially mitigate the impacts of the recession on construction firms.

Governments needed to speed up project approvals, even if that meant a restriction of citizens’ and residents’ role in the process, Tessmer said at a press event in Berlin.

Many officials within Germany’s public administration still failed to fully appreciate the severity of the decline in construction, he added.

German chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday promised additional spending and measures to bring forward infrastructure projects

Promoting infrastructure investment was better way out of the crisis than boosting consumer spending, she said in speech at Mannheim-based research group Zentrum fur Europaische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW).

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By: Stefan Baumgarten
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