As Federal Research Minister, I introduced Germany as a potential biotechnology location at the BIO fair in New York in 1998. I had every reason to be pleased with the enthusiasm of the American media. "Germany is back!" they wrote. Back home, I was awarded the title "Entrepreneur of the Year," a distinction that made me particularly proud. After all, it is not the kind of award a politician receives often. And now, as minister-president of North Rhine-Westphalia, I can say that biotechnology is still one of my major concerns.
The region intersected by the rivers Rhine and Ruhr is one of the most vigorous and important economic areas in the world. This was the case during the first industrial ...
