Meeting existing and future investors in Germany and Netherlands, Part 1

I am leading a small delegation to Germany and Netherlands to visit some targetted companies to introduce investment opportunities in Selangor state to them.

This is the first time for me to come to Europe to promote investment promotion opportunities in Selangor. The reason I have not come to Western countries to promote Selangor in the past two years is due to world economic recession. All these countries were in bad shape, and MB of Selangor advised me to look for investors in China. That’s why I went to China for a few times.

I am supposed to deliver my adjournment speech in the Parliament after I come back from Europe, and I need to submit adjournment speech to the Parliament 7 days before I deliver my speech. So, after I arrived at Frankfurt Airport on last Sunday morning, while waiting for my connecting flight  to Leipzig  at Frankfurt Airport. I typed my Parliament speech on the plot ratio of the city planning made by DBKL and how it is causing congestion.

Once we were in Leipzig, we couldn’t enter our hotel because the road was blocked for a fire brigade parade. It was interesting to see all the different types of old fire engines.

Look at this public toilet  in Germany. To use it,  you first need to insert coins through a slot near the door, then only you can use it. This kind of automation saves labour. But it is not cheap to use such toilet, each time €0.50, very expensive oh!!

The main reason we travelled to Leipzig was to visit the solar company which has set up its plant in Selangor, ie Q-Cells. I was told that MIDA and PKNS have spent 3 years to courting Q-Cells to come to Malaysia.

We visited Q-Cells’ headquarters which is located in Leipzig industrial area of the former East Germany. It is a huge plant. This company is in the process of closing down its production lines and shifting all its production lines to Selangor Science Park 2 now.

We were briefed by Q-Cells Malaysia CEO Mr Benhard Rack as well as one their representatives. They told us about the trends in the world solar power market. They are very optimistic about this industry as the demand of solar or renewable enrgy product is unlimited.

We were taken to see their production line. They use a lot of robots. Not that many workers/engineers are required in the production lines. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any photos.

The COO of Q-Cells Mr Gerhard Rauter met us during lunch time. We presented him with a pewter piece as a souvenir from Malaysia and invited him to expand his company in Selangor.

After visiting Q-Cells, we then travelled by a mini bus to go to Berlin. It took us about 3 hours to reach Berlin.

I like the rest stations along the highways in Germany. They are not just rest stops. They also have a mixture of mini markets and food stalls. They are clean, tidy and dry too.

On the 3rd day, we visited Sulfurcell, a solar company that produces thin film including building facade in Eastern part of Berlin. The product of this company is really interesting. It can be used as facade or wall of building but at the same time, it produces electricity that is sent to the grid.

I believe that this product is very suitable for Malaysia, especially now that the government giving incentives for “Green Buildings”.

See the black facade behind us? It is one of Sulfurcell’s products. It generates electricity and sends it to the grid.

After visited Sulfercell, we then went to the city center. We purposely stopped over at the Parliament House in Berlin for a photo session. There were many tourists waiting to enter into the Parliament House. Their Parliament House is open to tourists, unlike our Malaysian Parliament House which is so unfriendly to visitors.

As for us, we did not have time to queue, that’s why we just took photos outside the Parliament House.

Well, Nazri announced that the Federal Government is going  to spend RM800mil to build a new Parliament house. If we look at buildings at Putrajaya, they were copied from the designs of European countries. So, will Nazri build Parliament House modelled upon German Parliament at  Putrajaya? 🙂

I was surprised to see that the German Chancellery (Chencellor Angela Merkel’s executive office) is located opposite their Parliament.

In that afternoon, we met with Dr Berndes of German Aerospace Association.  He briefed us  on the association’s network of companies and the latest trend of the aerospace industry.

I told him that Malaysian government and Selangor state government intended to create a aerospace industry hub in Selangor. I said more and more aerospace companies came to set up their companies in Selangor, and the German companies should look at the ASEAN market.

We then played a CD on investment opportunities in Selangor to him and invited him to visit Malaysia to get to know us more.

The German Aerospace Association is located near the former US Army checkpoint or Checkpoint Charlie between East and West Berlin. Many tourists have to pay €1 to take photo with the “American soldier”.

There is a cold war meseum next to the checkpoint. I felt so sorrowful and heavy in heart when I viewed the exhibits at the Cold War Museum, particularly to see how people in Eastern Berlin risked their lives to flee to Western Berlin. It is a horrible part of Germany’s history and I admire Germany for acknowledging their history, respecting it, teaching it to their school children instead of pretending that it didn’t happen.

We should thank all the great men in the late 80s that have helped to change the fate of the people of Germany, ie President Ronald Reagan, Gorbachev, Pope John Paul II and other politicians whose names I can’t remember.