BIO Deutschland Attends Meeting with Federal Minister Wanka

Johanna Wanka, Federal Minister of Education and Research, speaking with members of the SME Alliance. Photo: BIO Deutschland

BIO Deutschland, the German Association for Small and Medium-sized Businesses, and other members of the SME Alliance attended a small meeting with Johanna Wanka, Federal Minister of Education and Research. During the meeting, BIO Deutschland focused on the topic of project funding for research projects in the private sector. Project funding is a cornerstone for financing and continuing research and development in industry. As a result, increased project funding would be desirable. BIO Deutschland pointed out that entrepreneurs were adversely affected by irregularities, such as funding breaks and fluctuating budgets, in established programmes like KMU innovativ, and generally found it difficult to bridge these gaps. This subject and other topics, such as the lack of skilled workers, career guidance for school pupils, dual education (which combines apprenticeships with vocational education) and extra-occupational digital training, led to a lively discussion with the Minister, who was interested in and open to the ideas raised by the company representatives.