Round Table Gesundheitswirtschaft

© BMWK / Andreas Mertens

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck opened the Healthcare Industry Round Table together with leading representatives of the industrial healthcare industry and his Parliamentary State Secretary Franziska Brantner. This dialogue format focuses on joint discussions about how the competitiveness of the companies can be improved, how resilience, affordability and sustainability of the healthcare system in Germany and Europe can be ensured, how the business environment in Germany can be improved, and how the industrial healthcare industry can be made more visible. The Healthcare Industry Round Table will last the entire legislative term and aims to facilitate a sharing of expertise and constructive dialogue, to identify measures, and to set proposed solutions in motion.

Federal Minister Habeck said: “The industrial healthcare industry creates gross value added of €85.2 billion, and is one of the key pillars of our economy. It is a driving force for innovation, growth and employment. In a joint dialogue, the Healthcare Industry Round Table aims to help improve the business environment and to boost the companies’ international competitiveness in order to safeguard high-quality healthcare.”

One euro in eight in Germany is generated in the healthcare sector, and one job in six is provided by it. The industrial healthcare industry, which is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises, is a key component of this and is also notable for the above-average investments it makes in research and development (9% of its gross value added). Stretched supply chains and high energy costs and price increases are just some of the current challenges facing the companies in the industrial healthcare industry.

The Healthcare Industry Round Table is to meet throughout the legislative term. The agenda to summer 2023 includes improvements in the environment for research, development and production, as well as the strengthening of resilient supply chains, intellectual property rights as a precondition for innovation, and access to and use of health data.

The Healthcare Industry Round Table consists of the Federal Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (BAH), the Federation of German Industries (BDI), BIO Deutschland, the Association of the German Pharmaceutical Industry (BPI), the Federal Association of Health IT (bvitg), the German Medical Technology Association (BVMed), Pro Generika, Spectaris – German Industry Association for Optics, Photonics, Analytical and Medical Technologies, the Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (vfa), the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI), the German Diagnostics Industry Association (VDGH) and the Electro and Digital Industry Association (ZVEI).