Reform of corporate taxation is about to be passed 14. March 2007 by Thomas Jannot Probably today the German cabinet is going to pass a corporate tax reform intended to take effect in 2008. The reform is to lower the total tax burden on companies to below 30 percent. Yesterday, however, temporarily there were irritations due to the fact that after a meeting with business leaders Mrs. Merkel already talked …
Tonight opening ceremony of CeBIT 2007 14. March 2007 by Thomas Jannot Tonight at six o´clock the CeBIT computer exhibition will be festively opened in the presence of the German Chancellor, Mrs. Angela Merkel, in the Hannover Congress Centre. About 2000 guests are expected to take part in this opening ceremony. The motto of this year´s CeBIT is “Join the vision”. From tomorrow, March 15th, the exhibition …
Economic prospects further improving 13. March 2007 by Thomas Jannot Even though the economic upward trend is said to slightly lose momentum in March 2007, the overall economic prospects continue to be promising. The corresponding economic indicator for Germany calculated by the Centre for European Research (ZEW) now stands at 5.8 after 2.9 points in February. However, the current value still falls much short of …
Awards worth 85.000 wait for innovative companies 13. March 2007 by Thomas Jannot Until March 31st it is still possible to apply for participation in the innovation prize 2007 competition organized by the Initiative Mittelstand. Looked for are innovative companies from all fields of industry which distinguish themselves by their innovative products, solutions or services which at the same time are of high use to small and medium-sized …
Optimism on the IT market continues 13. March 2007 by Thomas Jannot The market players of the IT business in Germany, Switzerland and Austria are all in high spirits. 65% of those questioned are very optimistic with regard to the development in the field of technology in 2007 (2006: 53%). More than 90% expect higher revenues in 2007 (2006: 79%). The sectors which are probably going to …
Daylight saving time starts on Sunday in the USA 9. March 2007 by Thomas Jannot On Sunday, March 11th, for the first time the daylight saving time in the USA and Canada starts three weeks earlier than in Germany. The end of this period will also differ. In America the finishing date was deferred to November 4th. This measure is to save energy in both countries. According to numerous IT …
Retirement age raised to 67 by the lower house of German parliament 9. March 2007 by Thomas Jannot Today the lower house of German parliament by a clear majority vote of 408 to 169 decided to raise the retirement age to 67 years. This new measure is to take effect gradually starting in 2012 and will be completed in 2029. There is one exception to the new rule: Everyone who has made contributions …
German exports up by 13.4 percent in January 9. March 2007 by Thomas Jannot In the January of 2007 Germany exported goods to the value of 77.5 billion Euros whereas the value of imported goods amounted to 61.4 billion Euros. Thus, German exports and imports increased by 13.4% and 9.6% respectively in January 2007 as compared to January one year ago. However, the picture is less positive, if one …
More than 80 percent think about quitting their jobs 9. March 2007 by Thomas Jannot A current survey by the StepStone job portal draws a bleak picture of the loyalty of German specialists and executive managers to their companies: 42% intend to quit their jobs in the current year! On top of this, an additional 40% are at least considering such a step. Only 18% are satisfied with their jobs.
Globalisation provides opportunities to medium-sized hotel business 7. March 2007 by Thomas Jannot The president of the tourism commission of the lower house of German parliament, Mrs. Marlene Mortler, thinks that globalisation provides both challenges and opportunities to the medium-sized hotel business in Germany. “The quicker and better SMEs adapt to special cultural features, the bigger will be the share of the gains that can be made in …