This is the case because Hamburg is all about class. The standard of living is high because the city sets it that way. The people are more interested in making money than saving it, and they know that you make money by offering quality.

This is the greenest and most service-oriented international area in Germany. It's got that big city savvy, but with a small-town feel. It is one of the few places left on the planet where a handshake means as much as a signature. It's been that way for over 1,000 years. And as the new millennium dawns, Hamburg is more prepared than ever to shake hands with the world.

"If you look at Hamburg, it is a powerhouse with respect to growth, strength and wealth," said Dr. Dietmar Dudden, chairman of the Hamburg Business Development Corp. "These elements exist because of our diversity. Without that, Hamburg would not have survived as long as it has."

Dr. Dietmar D�dden, chairman, Hamburg Business Development Corp.

On the waterfront Globalization has always been a buzzword in Hamburg. Since the establishment of the harbor around 1189, the city has done all it could to foster the shipping industry. Shortly after the port was built, the emperor ruling at the time granted a series of privileges to Hamburg allowing for duty-free trade along the 122 km of the Elbe river from the city up to its mouth at the North Sea. Over time, the city has continued to liberalize, earning the nickname Gateway to the World. Today, according to the Chamber of Commerce, there are about 1,800 general cargo companies with offices in Hamburg. Of these, about 250 specialize in long-haul cargo and 450 are forwarding companies offering combined truck, rail, air and ship services. The port sees cargo exceeding 70 million tons and more than 3 million TEUs of container traffic per year.

"Hamburg is a very traditional metropolis in trading and transport. It has an organizational infrastructure second to none," said Dr. Hans Ludwig Beth, chairman of the Port of Hamburg. "It has always maintained a healthy and international air about it, which is why the city's official name is still the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg." The strategic positioning of this port city of 1.7 million inhabitants is not something to be relegated to the annals of history. In 1990, with the fall of the Iron Curtain - which stood just 50 km east of Hamburg - countries such as Poland and the CIS states got their first taste of the Western World. That taste was fed to them from Hamburg. Continued development in the East, as well as the economic boom in Scandinavia, are strengthening Hamburg's position as a global player by literally shifting the city back into the center of Europe.

Dr. Thomas Mirow, senator of economics-Hamburg

And further development is exactly what is happening. A stalled 1996 proposal to deepen the port access by dredging the Elbe has now been accepted, approved and is under way, according to Beth. The approach to the sea will be deepened by 15 meters in order to allow all existing ships as well as the next generation of larger vessels to access Hamburg's port facilities. Beth expects the project to be completed by the end of this year. There are also plans to expand the capacity of the port's terminals and improve logistics, distribution and warehousing capability making the port even more competitive on the global scene.

"We are responding to the competition. This is the future. I would say that the typical northern ports of Antwerp, Rotterdam, Bremen and Hamburg are all fighting for exactly the same cargo, with the exception of crude oil," explained Beth. "Because we all have limited resources and limited budgets, we have to concentrate on the big accounts. We are working to attract the big shots."

Dr. Hans Ludwig Beth, chairman, Port of Hamburg

Shipshape business sectors With a diverse range of goods constantly coming into Hamburg. It was natural for a diverse range of services to evolve around them. As more ships were needed to meet demand, the shipbuilders came. Those ships needed to be financed and protected, so the banks and insurance companies found their way to Hamburg. And with the ocean serving as the "information super highway" of the day, it seemed natural that the communications sector would settle here as well. "We have seen a lot of new developments among the media companies," said Dudden. "We see some parallels with the United States when you talk about California's Silicon Valley and New York as Silicon Alley. If you transferred that to Germany, we say that Munich is Silicon Valley and Hamburg is Silicon Alley.

"We are rather good in the service sector. We have a GNP made up of about 80 percent trade and services, which is unusually high for Germany," said Dr. Thomas Mirow, the city-states minister of economics. "The service sector is in good shape and very modernized."

But more than just the service sector is doing well. A recent report by the Hamburgische Landesbank stated that while increasing international trade and export activities are the main engines behind Hamburg's growth, positive developments in the production and retail sectors contributed as well. The GDP growth for 1998 was about 3 percent, up from 2.5 percent in 1997.

International appeal

Often described as a small city with all the benefits of large one, Hamburg offers comfortable living. It's one of the greenest metropolitan locations in Germany, but it also has topnotch infrastructure, excellent universities and enough art, music and theater to keep the keenest of culture buffs satisfied. A number of top executives of multinational companies have joked that one of the hardest things about sending staff to Hamburg is that they never want to be sent anywhere else.

"There's something for everyone here," said Dudden. "The well situated businessperson finds cultural delights in Hamburg, and so does the kinky, creative person of the art studio. They both find their areas to live and have a good time. This is something that distinguishes Hamburg as a city of the same caliber as Munich, Berlin or Cologne."

Hamburg's picturesque Rathaus overlooks the Alster.

This appeal certainly extends to Japanese firms, as well. There are approximately 2,500 Japanese citizens living here, and the amenities for Japanese residents include 10 Japanese gardens and a Japanese school. Hamburg boasts the European headquarters of 30 Japanese companies and the German headquarters of 45 others, including Sharp, Matsushita, Konica, Minolta and Yamaha. And it's not just sales offices and "sogo soshas." Since 1989, five companies have established production plants in Hamburg. Panasonic recently invested $17 billion on a new facility for its parts center for Europe.

Center of Europe -- gateway to the world

The launch of the pan-European euro currency on the first day of this year, along with the economic successes in Scandinavia and the opening of markets in Eastern Europe, have opened up a lot of new opportunities for Hamburg. In addition, the city-state's long-standing relationship with Japan is alive and well - unwavering in the face of the current financial challenges.

Hamburg's Mayor Ortwin Runde took some time to speak with World Eye Reports about some of the changes, challenges and strengths of the jewel of northern Germany

WER: The face of Europe has been changing rapidly in recent years. How have these changes affected Hamburg?

Runde: There have been two main things regarding this point. One was the enlargement of the EU to include the northern countries. This brought us more into the middle of Europe. The other thing has been the development of the eastern countries that are trying to become part of the EU. They are gaining new importance. We have very close relations with the eastern countries. Trade nowadays with the middle European reformed states like Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary is bigger than the German trade with the United States.

Our geographic situation has changed a lot. Now you have a very important region in Hamburg and a very metropolitan region in Berlin. The southern part of Denmark is also a very fast-growing region. That is an important triangle. It will develop very successfully, I'm sure. When the German government moves to Berlin, this too will be a very significant change for Hamburg.

Ortwin Runde, mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg

Currently Hamburg is the most productive region in Europe. We had a new ranking of regions in the EU, and it said that Hamburg is most productive, followed by Brussels and Frankfurt. WER: Please characterize the state of Hamburg's economy as of 1998. Runde: Over the past years, we have had a serious economic crisis in Germany, including Hamburg. The economy had negative growth of about 1.9 percent for the whole economy. Hamburg recovered a bit faster than other states in Germany because we are so strongly connected to world trade. World trade is the motor of our economy here. So we had a better situation regarding the growth of our GDP. For 1998, the growth will have been about 2.5 to 2.7 percent. One major problem for us is that although the GDP is growing, employment is falling back because productivity has grown much stronger than in past years.

Runde: The relations between Hamburg and Japan are very important. Japan has been represented with a consulate in Hamburg since 1910. There are several institutions with Japanese know-how in the city, like the Institut fuer Asienkunde and the East-Asia Association. Hamburg has 121 Japanese company branch offices with more than 6,000 employees. A lot more of them can be found in the surrounding areas.

WER: This year marks the 10th anniversary of the sister city partnership between Hamburg and Osaka. What is being done to mark the occasion?

Runde: On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the sister city partnership of Hamburg and Osaka. I plan to visit the city of Osaka from May 23 to May 26. This anniversary is going to be celebrated by a cultural program called Hamburg Tage Osaka, which will include concerts, exhibitions of work by Hamburg artists, lecturers, discussions, conferences, a film festival and a photo exhibition entitled A City of See.

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