BIO Deutschland and the SME Alliance Meet Federal Minister for Special Tasks Peter Altmaier

Peter Heinrich, Chairman of the Board of BIO Deutschland, attended a meeting between the SME Alliance and Federal Minister for Special Tasks Peter Altmaier at the Federal Chancellery on 23 April. Heinrich used the opportunity to present the positions of BIO Deutschland’s Working Group on Finance and Taxation to the Minister, focusing on the needs for tax breaks for investors, the demand for a new Venture Capital Act and the establishment of a German innovation fund. The Federal Minister expressed interest in these ideas. At the same time, he underlined that the Federal Chancellery had already recognised the importance of these topics and was working hard to make progress on them. He offered to push for further progress within the Federal Chancellery. BIO Deutschland had previously submitted a position paper on this topic for discussion in the Federal Chancellery in the summer of 2014. The Federal Chancellery is currently working on the new Venture Capital Act and the Germany Fund. You can read BIO Deutschland’s position paper (in German) at www.biodeutschland.org/id-2014-393.html. The position papers on financing and innovation by the SME Alliance, in which BIO Deutschland is active, are available (in German) at www.biodeutschland.org/mittelstandsallianz.html