Hamburg Business Leader Urges Policy Overhaul to Secure Economic Future

Chamber of Commerce President Norbert Aust calls for reforms in infrastructure, innovation, and labor policy to address mounting challenges for the city’s economy.

• Norbert Aust, President of Hamburg’s Chamber of Commerce, warned that the city's economic outlook for 2025 appears bleak without significant policy changes.
• Aust emphasized the need for infrastructure investments, reduced bureaucracy, and expanded innovation efforts, including a proposed €1 billion innovation fund.
• He called for a stronger focus on competition and development in the Hamburg port, suggesting the use of unused land to bolster its global standing.
• Rejecting proposals like a four-day workweek, Aust advocated for increasing labor capacity through extended working hours to address the skilled labor shortage.
• A Chamber-commissioned survey revealed widespread dissatisfaction among local businesses with the government's economic strategy and infrastructure planning.

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