BDI calls for doubling of government funding
loe. BERLIN. Industry is demanding more financial support (fundings) from politicians for the development of innovations. In a position paper published Wednesday, the Federation of German Industries (BDI) urges that funding in the Central Innovation Program (ZIM) “ideally be doubled.” The budget has already been insufficient in previous years, but it is a “strong lever”. The association also calls for an expansion of eligible companies to up to 3000 employees. “Industrial collaborative research (IGF) also needs to be strengthened by doubling the budget to 400
million euros,” the paper continues. The Federal Ministry of Economics had suspended the ZIM program in October last year due to the large number of applications. The 2021 budget had already been increased to 620 million euros due to the consequences of the Corona pandemic. However, demand far exceeded the funds (fundings) available. The application freeze had triggered much criticism among companies. The draft for the 2022 federal budget provides around 590 million euros for ZIM. The Budget Committee in the Bundestag voted at the end of April to provide at least a similar
amount of money as in 2021. This Thursday sees the start of the budget adjustment session, and the Bundestag is expected to adopt the figures at the beginning of June. “Only innovations will secure Germany’s future,” said Sebastian Bauer, president of the Federation of Industrial Research Associations (AiF). In view of the many crises, he said, medium-sized companies need more support. 180 million euros have been earmarked for joint industrial research (IGF) in the draft budget.
Copyright information: All rights reserved. © F.A.Z. GmbH, Frankfurt am Main
© 2022 PMG Presse-Monitor GmbH
Learn more about the cooperation between the Research Association and AiF and IGF here.
