Berlin growing into service metropolis with Asian help

By Endy M. Bayuni

BERLIN (JP): Berlin is going Asian these weeks.

A month-long series of exhibitions and seminars opened on Sept. 15 to present Asia to Berliners, and to make Asians more familiar with Berlin and what it has to offer them.

More than 180 events -- mostly cultural exchanges and economic and scientific cooperation -- will have been held by the time Asien-Pazifik-Wochen winds up on Oct. 15.

The Asia-Pacific Weeks 1997 will "bridge the thousands of kilometers which separate Berlin and the Asia-Pacific region geographically", said Ebehard Diepgen, governing mayor of Berlin, in his introductory remarks to the official program.

"They are intended to arouse curiosity, deepen mutual understanding and provide the impetus for further acquaintance with other cultures and ways of living," Diepgen added.

Staff of the Berlin Chancellery say the Asian exhibition is integral in the current massive development drive as Berlin prepares to take over from Bonn as the seat of the German federal government before the turn of the century.

Foreign relations are important if Berlin is to become a service city, according to Rainer Seider, coordinator of the events, who spoke in September as he made last-minute preparations for the exhibitions.

During much of the Cold War, West Berlin was kept in isolation with no links to the outside world.

"There was a breakdown of foreign trade ties," Seider said in his office in the Rathaus (Red House), a 1899 red-brick building which houses the town hall.

The only trade link that existed before the Berlin wall came down had been to the east, and was limited to Eastern European countries.

The industries that existed in West Berlin produced mostly intermediate products that were sent to other West German towns for finishing touches before being exported.

With West Berliners receiving a government standard of living subsidy during the Cold War, the Berlin economy had been artificially maintained and was therefore not competitive when it came onto the world market in 1989.

With the walls down, Berlin feels a need to establish itself among the global metropolis, and this means more trade and contacts with the outside world, Seider says.

"We feel we should do much more," he said from his office, whose window overlooks some of the massive ongoing construction projects.

Why pick Asia in particular?

Seider says Berlin has more or less established bridges with east and central Europe. Asia is the next obvious target.

Asia was selected because it is the most culturally and economically interesting region in the world, he says. "We need to be much more involved with the people in that region."

The length of the exhibitions -- more than four weeks -- illustrates the diversity of the peoples and cultures of the Asia-Pacific region.

"We don't want them to put all in one basket," Seider said.

Japan features prominently, followed by China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), either as a group or individual members.

The program on Indonesia includes a symposium on future development cooperation (Oct. 10), Indonesian-German cooperation in medical technology (Oct. 8), Indonesian-German Economic Panel (Oct. 7), and an Indonesian cultural night (Sept. 26).

Seider says the mayoralty office plans to hold special exhibitions on Japan later in the year, and also another one on ASEAN.

Aside from the cultural events which the Asia-Pacific weeks offer, there are tremendous rewards to be reaped in trade and other mutually beneficial cooperation by both Berliners and the 15 Asian countries.

The city is boasting its immense experience in infrastructure projects -- numerous construction sites attest to this -- as well as services and hi-tech manufacturing products.

The light railway and subway system are some of the aspects that Berliners hope to sell to Asian countries.

Equally important is to show Berlin as a modern and international city, Seider says.

It is turning into a metropolis and like all metropolises, it is going to become a service city, he says, adding that any manufacturing industry would concentrate on hi-tech products.

The city of more than four million already boasts one of the heaviest concentrations of opera, theaters and concert houses in Europe. Some of the world's largest trade exhibitions, including the annual tourism expo in February and the consumer electronics, communications and entertainment expo in August/September, are held here.

The city is also breaking its isolation through air transportation. Plans are afoot to merge its three airports -- the legacy of the Cold War -- into one large airport by 2005 that will have more direct flights to major foreign cities.

By then, some of the legal barriers will also be gone, Seider says. "Currently, Lufthansa does not even have any direct flight to New York City. That's strange for a capital city."

Berlin has already attracted one major Japanese investor, not only to establish its presence here, but also to take part in rebuilding of the town's once-famous center: the Potsdamer Platz.

The giant electronic company Sony Corp is building Sony Center, a huge urban development complex, on a 26,444-square- meter plot, investing approximately DM 1.5 billion.

Asian part

The center is one of several giant constructions currently underway to restore the Postdamer Platz to its pre-World War II function as the town's center for various activities, including arts and cultural places which made Berlin famous.

The largest project in the area is being carried out by Daimler Benz on a 68,000-square-meter plot.

But the Sony Center represents the Asian participation in the development and progress of Berlin.

Besides four office buildings, including one that will house Sony Europe, the center will also have luxury residences, a huge movie complex for the German Film and Television Academy and museum of Marlene Dietrich collection, a "mediatheque", and a massive entertainment center.

Karin Puttman, public relations manager for Sony Berlin GmbH, says Sony paid DM 100 million to the Berlin chancellery in return for the plot and an obligation to restore and preserve the old Grand Hotel Esplanade, which had been declared a protected architectural monument. The residential apartments will be build around the Esplanade.

The Potsdamer Platz is one of the few areas exempted by the chancellery's ban against skyscrapers. Generally, a building cannot be more than five or six stories high.

"We won't let Berlin become like Frankfurt of New York," Seider says.

Despite the property boom, Berlin still has plenty of land for new investors intending to come, either to build new buildings or housing apartments, he says.

The mayoralty offers no fiscal or monetary incentives, but, as with Sony, it will help investors in getting the land.

Sony was one of the first giant conglomerates to decide to relocate their European headquarters or operations to Berlin as part of the exciting development program.

Daimler Benz, Coca Cola and ABB were the others, while Mercedes Benz is relocating its main distribution center from Stuttgart.

"They decided six years ago. We imagine more are coming," says the ever hopeful Seider.