American Chamber Dinner for Deputy Secretary Kimmitt
Ambassador William R. Timken, Jr.

Frankfurt, February 12, 2007

As prepared for delivery.


Thank you for giving me the opportunity to welcome Deputy Secretary Robert Kimmitt to this meeting of the AmCham Germany, one of the oldest and largest bilateral economic organizations in Europe.  

Bob Kimmitt certainly needs no formal introduction here. He has served with distinction in a number of capacities in both government and the private sector.  Many of you know him well.   He has many close personal friends in Germany.  I have heard him talk about long walks along the Baltic Sea with Angela Merkel during the times when he was the Ambassador to Germany and she was a young minister in Chancellor Kohl’s administration. 

Last year, as Chancellor, she invited the President to the Baltic!  And this year as head of the G-8 – Back to the Baltic!   Bob, you must have been great company!

Since those early formative years at the end of the Cold War, no two parts of the world have experienced economic integration faster and more intensely than the U.S. and EU.  Over one-third of global trade takes place between the EU and the U.S.   Our economies are the source of forty percent of the goods and services produced on this planet.  Companies on both sides of the Atlantic daily harness the benefits of opened markets brought about by global economic integration.

Chancellor Merkel recognizes the importance of economic growth.  I am very pleased that she is promoting innovation and economic competitiveness during Germany’s EU and G8 presidency terms.   I know that Chancellor Merkel also recognizes the important role of the private sector as the generator of economic growth.  If you look at the statistics on jobs and investment, it’s obvious that a lot of businessmen are involved in creating  the transatlantic relationship.

I think you would agree, Bob, that they are doing a very good job.  Taken as a whole, the degree of partnership and cooperation between the U.S. and Germany is today excellent. We are working closely together on all the serious world issues.  The President and the Chancellor have a very good relationship.  I know because I have sat in on their meetings.  It is also crucial, however, to have people of the stature and competence of a Bob Kimmitt in the administration as advocates of the transatlantic relationship.   He has a deep first-hand understanding of the vital issues that are at the nexus of foreign policy and the economy.  I would like to thank him for taking the time to give us his readout on the status of the transatlantic economic relationship in these challenging and historic times.