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AFB Sponsors the Young Leaders Alumni Conference in Berlin

AFB was a proud sponsor of the Young Leaders Alumni Conference, held by Atlantik-Brücke and the American Council on Germany, in connection with the German-American Conference in Berlin, Germany.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble opened the German-American Conference of Atlantik-Brücke and the American Council on Germany on September 11th. In his speech, the Minister noted that Germany, Europe and the United States can and must work together for stability: In the financial markets, in regulating the digital traffic, to support the trouble spots of the world, and not least in relation to the refugee issue. Schäuble emphasized that the common values ​​of Europe and the United States outweigh the cultural differences. Europe, and Germany in particular, must be ready to take on more responsibility in the new era of transatlantic partnership.

Following the speech by Minister Schäuble, US Ambassador John B. Emerson spoke about the economic dimension of transatlantic cooperation. He stressed the importance of the planned Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (TTIP). In a panel discussion with Peter Chase, Vice President Europe, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; US Ambassador John Emerson; Ambassador Michael Punke, Deputy United States Trade Representative and Permanent Representative to the WTO; Berend Diekmann, Head of the Department for Foreign Economic Policy, North America, G8/G20, and the OECD in the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs; and Federal Minister (ret.) Jürgen Trittin, Member of Parliament (Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen) discussed the opportunities and concerns of the TTIP. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Daniel Hamilton, Executive Director of the Center for Transatlantic Relations, The Johns Hopkins University. In a panel discussion on foreign and security policy with Federal Minister Dr. Norbert Röttgen, Member of Parliament (CDU / CSU); Andreas Michaelis, Political Director at the Foreign Office; Dr. Ariel Cohen, Director of the Center for Energy, Natural Resources, and Geopolitics at the Institute for Analysis of Global Security; and Dr. Gregory F. Treverton, Chairman, National Intelligence Council, the conversation centered on Russia’s foreign policy ambitions of the West.

In the afternoon, the 25th anniversary of the Two-Plus-Four Treaty was the focus of the conversation. Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier paid tribute to the historic significance of the Treaty in a speech. In a subsequent panel discussion, eyewitnesses from all six signatory states of the Two-Plus-Four Treaty had their say: the former German foreign minister, Hans-Dietrich Genscher; former French Foreign Minister, Roland Dumas; former foreign minister of the GDR, Markus Meckel; Robert Zoellick, former Under Secretary of State for Economic and Agricultural Affairs and former President of the World Bank; Lord William Waldegrave, former Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; and Anatoly Leonidovich Adamischin, former Deputy Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union.

On September 12th was the Young Leaders Alumni Conference, held on the topic of “Entrepreneurship & Innovation”. Organized by the Atlantik-Brücke and the American Council on Germany, the conference was co-sponsored by arvato Bertelsmann, Microsoft, and American Friends of Bucerius. Included in the program were discussions on:

“Digitalization” with Jan Neutze, Director of Cybersecurity Policy EMEA, Microsoft and State Secretary Jens Spahn, MdB (CDU/CSU), Federal Ministry of Finance

“Venture Capital” with Jan Beckers, Founder & CEO of HitFox Group GmbH and Mark Hartmann, Partner and Founding Team Member, Project A Ventures GmbH & Co. KG; moderated by Andreas Winiarski, Founder & CEO, RCKT Rocket Communications

“Start-Ups” with Dorian Freudenreich, Founder & CEO, Apparently Different GmbH; Ali Albazaz, CEO, Inkitt; and Ramin Niroumand, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, FinLeap; Sebastian Funke, Founder & CEO, sMeet Communications GmbH; Marc Strigel, COO, SoundCloud; Benjamin Rohé, Managing Director, GTEC German Tech Entrepreneurship Center Berlin; and Gaurav Singh, Former Head of New Business Development, Deutsche Telekom AG