Two soldiers from the German Armed Forces sit in front of monitors in the airspace surveillance command room (symbolic image).
© dpa
The black-red Senate wants to attract more companies from the security and defence industry to Berlin in the future.
This was decided at its most recent meeting. "We are experiencing a high level of momentum in this area," said Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) afterwards. This also applies to Berlin.
There is noticeable interest among such companies in locating in the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region. It offers an excellent scientific and research landscape, many start-ups and, last but not least, proximity to the federal government. This potential should be exploited even more effectively. Wegner announced that a dedicated department will be set up in the Senate Chancellery. It will act as a point of contact for the federal government and the European Union and coordinate the necessary consultation processes. The goals are ambitious: "Berlin should become a European beacon in the field of security technology and resilience," said Wegner.
To achieve this, business and research in this field need to network more effectively. The state-owned Berlin Partner for Business and Technology GmbH is to assist in this process, among other things in cooperation with the economic administration. The capital region is already home to around 130 companies from the security and defence industry, employing 26,000 people and generating a total turnover of eight billion euros per year, added Senator for Economic Affairs Franziska Giffey (SPD). In addition, there are around 430 other companies that focus on products, software or technologies that can be used for both civilian and military purposes.