Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) wants to use his term as head of the East Prime Ministers’ Conference to advance East Germany on important issues. “We want our own skilled worker immigration program for the east, because we are facing special challenges here,” he told the German Press Agency with a view to the demographic development. According to forecasts, the Saxon labor market alone will be short of around 150,000 workers by 2030. According to Kretschmer, the East German state leaders want to meet in January in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) and the head of the Federal Employment Agency, Andrea Nahles.
Kretschmer took over the chairmanship of the MPK-Ost on December 1 from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD). “We have to seize the opportunity and talk again about the instruments that the eastern German federal states need so that their successful development continues,” said Kretschmer.
For example, it is important to keep up with the topic of research and innovation. A conference in Chemnitz in the presence of Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) is planned for this purpose. The point is to continue to motivate your ministry so that the positive effects of the past few years are maintained. The actual Ministry for the Development of the East is always the Federal Ministry for Education and Research: “That’s where the major developments were initiated.”
According to Kretschmer, the MPK-Ost has proven to be a successful institution. It is also important with a view to the balance of votes in the Bundesrat. Of the 64 votes in the Bundesrat, the eastern German states, including Berlin, would only have 23 votes. The conference as a place for discussion, exchange and coordination is an important institution to which the Federal Chancellor also attends once a year.
