Panter wants to attract more defense companies to Saxony

Saxony's new Minister of Economic Affairs Dirk Panter (SPD) wants to attract more defence companies to the state. This applies to industry as well as SMEs and start-ups, he said in his first specialist government statement in the state parliament. "Three-digit billion sums will flow into security. Should this money really all be invested in the other federal states? Is that what we want?"

"Of course you can take a critical view of armaments. I remember the reflexes when the armaments company Rheinmetall considered building a factory in Grossenhain," said Panter. There had been a similar debate about armaments orders in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - with a different outcome. "The survival of the shipyard in Wolgast depended on whether submarines or other military vessels were built - and that is what is happening now."

Panter welcomed the fact that the armaments group KNDS is taking over the site of the rail vehicle manufacturer Alstom in Görlitz. This would preserve well-paid industrial jobs. This is a blessing and has been achieved thanks to the close cooperation between the company, the works council, IG Metall, the city, the state and the federal government.

Panter calls for a reduction in bureaucracy and announces first step

In his speech, which lasted just under half an hour, Panter also focused on reducing bureaucracy. "Bureaucracy is paralyzing us, the economy is groaning and citizens are annoyed. We don't have an awareness problem here, we have an implementation problem." The Free State must also finally fundamentally change its approach.

"By that I mean all levels, the state government, the ministries, the state offices and the authorities. And not with a chainsaw. But together, pragmatically and with common sense," explained the minister. Thinking in terms of the status quo and "business as usual" or "always done this way" would not help.

Panter announced a first step in this direction. Saxony had granted 750 million euros in loans to companies during the coronavirus pandemic to help them through the difficult times. Almost 17,000 of these loans are still outstanding and are currently being repaid. The aim is to dispense with the currently necessary verification of the use of funds for each individual loan in future: "In order to save effort for the companies and the Sächsische Aufbaubank, to avoid unnecessary hassle and to save many millions in processing fees. We are working on this."