Politician trips have little to do with holidays, but mean a program from very early to very late. Giving speeches and shaking hands. Prime Minister Kretschmann is now traveling abroad for the first time in several years. The timing could be better.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – Baden-Württemberg Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann set off on a week-long trip to the USA with a huge delegation. There, the Green politician wants to spend five days in Pittsburgh and California making contacts for the Southwest. It is the head of government’s first major trip abroad since 2018. The focus is on the topics of artificial intelligence, autonomous driving and the future of the healthcare industry. The program is extremely packed for the 74-year-old. “It’s hard work,” Kretschmann told the German Press Agency at Frankfurt Airport shortly before departure – when asked if he was looking forward to the trip.
On Tuesday, Kretschmann then wants to take part in the federal-state consultations with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) via video link from the USA. Scholz had postponed the meeting with the prime ministers to next Tuesday at short notice. Kretschmann almost canceled his participation in the US trip. The negotiations with the federal government are very important to him – for many weeks he has been demanding more financial support from the federal government, for example for local transport.
Kretschmann plans to visit Pittsburgh, Sacramento and Los Angeles by October 8th. His last big trip in 2018 was also to the United States, to California. 104 people accompany him, company bosses, professors, Finance Minister Danyal Bayaz, Transport Minister Winfried Hermann (both Green) and Economics Minister Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut (CDU) are there.
According to the State Department, the United States is the country’s most important trading partner. More than a quarter of the direct investments from Baden-Württemberg go to the USA (around 80 billion euros in 2018). The Southwest is also home to nearly 280 American companies. Furthermore, the state government counts 685 university cooperations between the Southwest and the states. Kretschmann wants to expand this and present Baden-Württemberg as a strong location for business and science.
