Stadtrat Boris Rhein im Interview
24-07-08

Vor wenigen Wochen gab Boris Rhein, der Dezernent für Wirtschaft, Finanzen und Recht der Stadt Frankfurt am Main, der KERN AG IKL ein exklusives Interview in englischer Sprache,in dem er über sein Sprachentraining bei der KERN AG IKL sowie über die Vielfalt seiner beruflichen Aufgaben sprach. Das Gespräch führte der Pädagogische Leiter der KERN AG IKL, William Fern.

Stadtrat Boris Rhein (CDU)

William Fern (WF): Boris Rhein, what made you decide to refresh your English language abilities?

Boris Rhein (BR):  The English I learned at school was not enough to do my job.

WF:  In view of your brutal working schedule how do you find the time for skills development?

BR:  First of all it’s a question of discipline.  It also helps that KERN AG and my trainer William Fern are flexible.  

WF:  What is especially important for you to learn in a foreign language and why?

BR:  Most important is to break down the inhibitions when speaking in a foreign language.  In addition I need to improve my vocabulary.

WF: Please give us a brief overview of the offices you head.  What do they each do?

BR: I’m in charge of the Legal Affairs Department, the Human Resources Department, which has more than ten-thousand employees, and I also head the Frankfurt Economic Development Board.  

WF: You’ve been in the post of Economics Minister for city of Frankfurt since 1st November 2007, it’s your six month’s anniversary.  I congratulate you.  Which are some of the goals that you have already achieved?

BR:  I am pleased that we have managed a far-reaching restructuring of the Frankfurt Economic Development Board.  Our goal is to keep our fingers on the pulse of the economy.  We would like to strengthen our relationships with the companies already in Frankfurt and play the role of an active partner.  

WF: Frankfurt is of course notorious for its high trade tax (Gewerbesteuer).  Despite this, why is Frankfurt a good place in which to do business and why should a firm establish here, rather than elsewhere?

BR: One of the first actions of the present Christian Democrat/Green Party coalition was to reduce the trade tax rates and now Munich, and not Frankfurt, has the highest trade tax in Germany.  The consequence is we have been able to attract large companies which employ thousands of people to Frankfurt and we convinced other companies to remain in Frankfurt.  This shows that in the future we should reduce the tax rate even more.  In addition, Frankfurt’s cost of living is, on an international scale, very well-positioned. Moreover, Frankfurt is especially attractive as an international transport hub.  It has one of Europe’s largest airports, Europe’s largest railway station and Germany’s most heavily-travelled autobahn network etc. etc.Frankfurt’s infrastructure makes for short distances.  It takes just 15 minutes by train from the airport to the city centre and then it’s only a 10-minute’s walk to the fair grounds and banking district. Frankfurt also has splendid cultural and sport offerings.  These include, for example, opera, theatre, museums, soccer and even American football. No where in Germany will you find such fine balance of “soft” and “hard” attributes.  

WF:  What about Frankfurt makes you especially proud?  

BR:  I am proud of Frankfurt’s because of its internationality and the fact that about 200 different nationalities live here peacefully together.

WF: What makes you optimistic about the future of Frankfurt?

BR:  I am optimistic about Frankfurt’s future because Frankfurt is a globalisation winner and it profits from the demographic transition and because Frankfurt is becoming more economically attractive all the time.  

WF: Please summaries some of your organisation’s goals.  What would you like to achieve within the next five years?

BR:  We will have a one-stop shop for all economic and business matters to eliminate bureaucracy.We will implement in Frankfurt Michael Bloomberg’s 311 telephone service number like New York City has. We will be the largest and most important location for the creative industries in Germany. We will establish a House of Logistics and Mobility like the House of Finance, which we already have.  

WF: What are some of the greatest challenges you face in your position of Economics Minister?  

BR:  The complexity of today’s globalised economy in a city makes this position very complicated but it is exactly this challenge which makes doing the job so enjoyable.  

WF: What other foreign languages would you also like to learn and why have you chosen these?

BR:  I would like to learn Spanish and Italian and I have chosen these languages because I like the countries and I like the Mediterranean life.

WF:  Thank you, it’s been most interesting.

Links:

www.frankfurt.de/sixcms/detail.php