Whistle-stop visit at Bentley: Minister of Economic Affairs Dr. Hoffmeister-Kraut on site in the Medical Valley

Last Friday, Bentley CEO Sebastian Büchert and CTO Christian Bader welcomed Dr. Hoffmeister-Kraut, Baden-Württemberg’s Minister for Economic Affairs, Labor and Tourism, to a dialogue at the European market leader for covered stents in Hechingen’s Lotzenäcker district. In addition to Manuel Hailfinger (CDU), member of the state parliament and member of the Committee on Economic Affairs, Labor and Tourism as well as the Committee on the Environment, Climate and Energy, Cindy Holmberg, member of state parliament for the Hechingen-Münsingen constituency from Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, took part in the exchange across party lines. Mayor Philipp Hahn also took the opportunity to participate in the exchange between politics, business and science in his municipality located in the heart of the Medical Valley.

At the center of the open discussions were the current issues and challenges facing medical technology production at the Hechingen site, with a focus on the changing political and regulatory framework related to planned EU legislative measures. The potential impact on the production of necessary precursors and the risks to the European supply chain were intensly debated. This included an emphasis on the importance of limiting geostrategic dependencies on countries such as China to maintain long-term competitiveness. All agreed that bureaucracy and reporting requirements have already caused excessive costs and represent a significant constraint that needs to be reduced in a joint effort in the near future. This is why an exchange between policymakers, associations, science and the business sector is so important.

Christian Bader, Bentley’s chief technology officer, pointed out that predictability is critical for investments of all kinds in an industry where time frames of seven to ten years from the initial idea to product approval are the norm.

Dr. Hoffmeister-Kraut emphasized: “Having a direct exchange with companies in the region is particularly important to me given today’s very challenging environment for many areas of the manufacturing industry. Nothing is more valuable than a face-to-face conversation and getting a first-hand impression on the ground. A predictable regulatory framework and reliable supply chains are essential, especially for dynamically growing medical technology companies like Bentley who are planning for the long term. Especially the medical device industry suffers from regulatory requirements and further increase of bureaucracy. I will not cease to promote better framework conditions in Brussels and Berlin.”