Finance minister says Germany must revive economic growth
German Finance Minister Jörg Kukis said Germany must “Embarking on the road to economic growth” while overcoming structural weaknesses.
“We just cut the IMF’s growth forecast again,” Kukis told CNBC’s Karen Tso and Steve Sedgwick at the World Economic Forum in Davos. .
“It’s very important that we get on the path of economic growth,” he added.
Kukis became Germany’s finance minister in November, succeeding Christian Lindner, who was replaced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz after months of wrangling and conflict over economic and budget issues. Olaf Scholz) fired.
Lindner’s ouster effectively ended Germany’s previous ruling coalition composed of Scholz’s Social Democrats, Lindner’s Free Democrats and the Green Party. This led to the German national election being brought forward to February 23.
“The election is all about economics,” Kukis added.
——Sophie Kidlin
Finance minister says Germany’s debt brake needs ‘some targeted reforms’
German Finance Minister Jörg Kukies told CNBC that Germany’s so-called fiscal policy needs to make some changes. debt brake.
Fiscal rules under the German constitution limit the amount of debt the government can take on and stipulate that the federal government’s structural budget deficit must not exceed 0.35% of the country’s annual gross domestic product.
“I do think there has to be some targeted reform of the debt baking because we very much need infrastructure spending on rails, roads, bridges, education, 5G, 6G infrastructure, etc. So a lot of public infrastructure has to be provided,” he said.
“But the vast majority of investment in our country has to come from the private sector. So in that sense, additionally, we have to have the right incentives in place.”
Read more about the Debt Brake here.
——Sophie Kidlin
Vestas CEO says Trump’s climate retreat is exaggerated
CEO of Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas U.S. President Trump said climate retreat Seems to be exaggerated.
His remarks came shortly after the newly inaugurated president was scheduled to address business and political leaders remotely at the World Economic Forum later in the day, and he quickly took aim at low carbon energy initiatives.
in a independent executive orderAs widely expected, Trump on Monday suspended new leases or renewals for offshore and onshore wind projects and halted leasing of Outer Continental Shelf wind projects.
Vestas Chief Executive Henrik Andersen said he did not expect Trump’s return to the White House to have an overwhelmingly negative impact on renewable energy companies operating in the country.
“The answer is I don’t think so, because if you look at it, if you take Vestas as an example, we have installed 45 gigawatts of capacity in the United States – that’s one-third of the wind capacity in the United States. That’s equivalent to about 36 or 37 million households,” Anderson told CNBC in Davos, Switzerland.
“So, whatever you see there, it’s part of… what I call America’s affordable, very good power and green supply,” he continued.
“You can interpret it in different ways, and of course most of you interpreted his declaration of an energy emergency in a negative way, you saw that as a negative. I’m seeing that with this energy transition as well. , we need more of everything,” Andersen said.
— Sam Meredith
Schneider Electric sees ‘huge push’ for AI innovation
Schneider Electric CEO Olivier Bloom said his company is a major beneficiary of innovations in artificial intelligence, including the newly announced U.S. Stargate Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Project.
“Certainly, overall, we’re getting a huge boost from the artificial intelligence initiative,” he said, acknowledging his company’s anticipated ties to the project.
President Donald Trump announced on tuesday Open artificial intelligence, Oracle and Softbank Invest billions of dollars AI America’s infrastructure. Schneider Electric last year reach an agreement With Nvidia — Leading manufacturer of AI chips — Develop the design of the data center cooling system.
“We are on both sides of artificial intelligence,” Bloom said, noting that the French automation and energy company both supports artificial intelligence data centers and uses the technology to help streamline business operations.
“We clearly see it becoming a reality. It helps amplify everything we do,” he said.
— Karen Gilchrist
Infosys has reduced risk of reliance on US work permits, CEO says
InfosysThe CEO of an Indian technology outsourcing company said the company has reduced its risk from any potential restrictions on U.S. work permits.
The tech giant has adopted a three-pronged strategy to prevent President Donald Trump from following through on his threat to restrict immigration, Chief Executive Salil Parekh said.
“In the last five to six years, the way companies operate has changed,” Parekh told CNBC in Davos. “We’ve built what I call a resilience model.”
this Infosys The CEO said 60% of its 40,000 U.S. employees do not rely on H-1B visas, or U.S. work permits. He also noted that the company currently has 8,000 employees in Canada and 2,000 in Mexico as part of its “nearshore hubs.”
Finally, Parikh said Infosys now performs more work overseas (away from India) than before.
Trump on Tuesday joined technology chiefs from Oracle, ChatGPT maker OpenAI and SoftBank in saying he was taking a more nuanced view of the U.S. work permit program and was open to more qualified immigrants entering the country
“We have to get really capable people, great people into our country,” Trump said of engineering employees at tech giants Oracle and OpenAI.
— Ganesh Rao
Thursday’s World Economic Forum keynotes and highlights
On January 26, 2018, US President Donald Trump delivered a speech at the Davos Convention Center (C), the venue for the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in the town of Davos, eastern Switzerland, People pass by the big screen. / AFP Photo/ Miguel Medina (Photo credit should read MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images)
Miguel Medina | AFP | Getty Images
The big event on Thursday will be President Donald Trump’s keynote address this afternoon. The president, who was inaugurated for his second term on Monday, will address the World Economic Forum via video link at 5pm Davos time.
Other high-profile figures set to speak on Thursday include Argentine President Javier Milei, whose speech begins at 10:15 a.m. local time.
World Economic Forum panels covered topics ranging from “Defending the Cyber Frontline” to the future of Ukraine, financial fragmentation, tariffs and the Middle East.
— Holly Elliot
CNBC Thursday Guest Highlights
OECD Secretary-General Matthias Koeman said on Monday that China’s reopening would be “overwhelmingly positive” for the global fight against soaring inflation.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
On the corporate front, the chief executives of Vestas, SAP and Schneider Electric will be interviewed by CNBC on Thursday, along with the bosses of Siemens, Carlsberg and Sanofi.
German Finance Minister Jörg Kukis, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and the OECD’s Matthias Koeman will also be interviewed.
The CNBC-hosted panel included a debate on the technology revolution, featuring HP CEO Antonio Neri and the CEOs of Octopus Energy and iGenius.
— Holly Elliot
