Berlin growing into service metropolis with Asian help<\/p>\n
By Endy M. Bayuni<\/p>\n
BERLIN (JP): Berlin is going Asian these weeks.<\/p>\n
A month-long series of exhibitions and seminars opened on
\nSept. 15 to present Asia to Berliners, and to make Asians more
\nfamiliar with Berlin and what it has to offer them.<\/p>\n
More than 180 events -- mostly cultural exchanges and economic
\nand scientific cooperation -- will have been held by the time
\nAsien-Pazifik-Wochen winds up on Oct. 15.<\/p>\n
The Asia-Pacific Weeks 1997 will "bridge the thousands of
\nkilometers which separate Berlin and the Asia-Pacific region
\ngeographically", said Ebehard Diepgen, governing mayor of Berlin,
\nin his introductory remarks to the official program.<\/p>\n
"They are intended to arouse curiosity, deepen mutual
\nunderstanding and provide the impetus for further acquaintance
\nwith other cultures and ways of living," Diepgen added.<\/p>\n
Staff of the Berlin Chancellery say the Asian exhibition is
\nintegral in the current massive development drive as Berlin
\nprepares to take over from Bonn as the seat of the German federal
\ngovernment before the turn of the century.<\/p>\n
Foreign relations are important if Berlin is to become a
\nservice city, according to Rainer Seider, coordinator of the
\nevents, who spoke in September as he made last-minute
\npreparations for the exhibitions.<\/p>\n
During much of the Cold War, West Berlin was kept in isolation
\nwith no links to the outside world.<\/p>\n
"There was a breakdown of foreign trade ties," Seider said in
\nhis office in the Rathaus (Red House), a 1899 red-brick building
\nwhich houses the town hall.<\/p>\n
The only trade link that existed before the Berlin wall came
\ndown had been to the east, and was limited to Eastern European
\ncountries.<\/p>\n
The industries that existed in West Berlin produced mostly
\nintermediate products that were sent to other West German towns
\nfor finishing touches before being exported.<\/p>\n
With West Berliners receiving a government standard of living
\nsubsidy during the Cold War, the Berlin economy had been
\nartificially maintained and was therefore not competitive when it
\ncame onto the world market in 1989.<\/p>\n
With the walls down, Berlin feels a need to establish itself
\namong the global metropolis, and this means more trade and
\ncontacts with the outside world, Seider says.<\/p>\n
"We feel we should do much more," he said from his office,
\nwhose window overlooks some of the massive ongoing construction
\nprojects.<\/p>\n
Why pick Asia in particular?<\/p>\n
Seider says Berlin has more or less established bridges with
\neast and central Europe. Asia is the next obvious target.<\/p>\n
Asia was selected because it is the most culturally and
\neconomically interesting region in the world, he says. "We need
\nto be much more involved with the people in that region."<\/p>\n
The length of the exhibitions -- more than four weeks --
\nillustrates the diversity of the peoples and cultures of the
\nAsia-Pacific region.<\/p>\n
"We don't want them to put all in one basket," Seider said.<\/p>\n
Japan features prominently, followed by China and the
\nAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), either as a group
\nor individual members.<\/p>\n
The program on Indonesia includes a symposium on future
\ndevelopment cooperation (Oct. 10), Indonesian-German cooperation
\nin medical technology (Oct. 8), Indonesian-German Economic Panel
\n(Oct. 7), and an Indonesian cultural night (Sept. 26).<\/p>\n
Seider says the mayoralty office plans to hold special
\nexhibitions on Japan later in the year, and also another one on
\nASEAN.<\/p>\n
Aside from the cultural events which the Asia-Pacific weeks
\noffer, there are tremendous rewards to be reaped in trade and
\nother mutually beneficial cooperation by both Berliners and the
\n15 Asian countries.<\/p>\n
The city is boasting its immense experience in infrastructure
\nprojects -- numerous construction sites attest to this -- as well
\nas services and hi-tech manufacturing products.<\/p>\n
The light railway and subway system are some of the aspects
\nthat Berliners hope to sell to Asian countries.<\/p>\n
Equally important is to show Berlin as a modern and
\ninternational city, Seider says.<\/p>\n
It is turning into a metropolis and like all metropolises, it
\nis going to become a service city, he says, adding that any
\nmanufacturing industry would concentrate on hi-tech products.<\/p>\n
The city of more than four million already boasts one of the
\nheaviest concentrations of opera, theaters and concert houses in
\nEurope. Some of the world's largest trade exhibitions, including
\nthe annual tourism expo in February and the consumer electronics,
\ncommunications and entertainment expo in August\/September, are
\nheld here.<\/p>\n
The city is also breaking its isolation through air
\ntransportation. Plans are afoot to merge its three airports --
\nthe legacy of the Cold War -- into one large airport by 2005 that
\nwill have more direct flights to major foreign cities.<\/p>\n
By then, some of the legal barriers will also be gone, Seider
\nsays. "Currently, Lufthansa does not even have any direct flight
\nto New York City. That's strange for a capital city."<\/p>\n
Berlin has already attracted one major Japanese investor, not
\nonly to establish its presence here, but also to take part in
\nrebuilding of the town's once-famous center: the Potsdamer Platz.<\/p>\n
The giant electronic company Sony Corp is building Sony
\nCenter, a huge urban development complex, on a 26,444-square-
\nmeter plot, investing approximately DM 1.5 billion.<\/p>\n
Asian part<\/p>\n
The center is one of several giant constructions currently
\nunderway to restore the Postdamer Platz to its pre-World War II
\nfunction as the town's center for various activities, including
\narts and cultural places which made Berlin famous.<\/p>\n
The largest project in the area is being carried out by
\nDaimler Benz on a 68,000-square-meter plot.<\/p>\n
But the Sony Center represents the Asian participation in the
\ndevelopment and progress of Berlin.<\/p>\n
Besides four office buildings, including one that will house
\nSony Europe, the center will also have luxury residences, a huge
\nmovie complex for the German Film and Television Academy and
\nmuseum of Marlene Dietrich collection, a "mediatheque", and a
\nmassive entertainment center.<\/p>\n
Karin Puttman, public relations manager for Sony Berlin GmbH,
\nsays Sony paid DM 100 million to the Berlin chancellery in return
\nfor the plot and an obligation to restore and preserve the old
\nGrand Hotel Esplanade, which had been declared a protected
\narchitectural monument. The residential apartments will be build
\naround the Esplanade.<\/p>\n
The Potsdamer Platz is one of the few areas exempted by the
\nchancellery's ban against skyscrapers. Generally, a building
\ncannot be more than five or six stories high.<\/p>\n
"We won't let Berlin become like Frankfurt of New York,"
\nSeider says.<\/p>\n
Despite the property boom, Berlin still has plenty of land for
\nnew investors intending to come, either to build new buildings or
\nhousing apartments, he says.<\/p>\n
The mayoralty offers no fiscal or monetary incentives, but, as
\nwith Sony, it will help investors in getting the land.<\/p>\n
Sony was one of the first giant conglomerates to decide to
\nrelocate their European headquarters or operations to Berlin as
\npart of the exciting development program.<\/p>\n
Daimler Benz, Coca Cola and ABB were the others, while
\nMercedes Benz is relocating its main distribution center from
\nStuttgart.<\/p>\n
"They decided six years ago. We imagine more are coming," says
\nthe ever hopeful Seider.<\/p>",
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