German engineering sector would be happy with stagnant 2016 sales

[DUESSELDORF, Germany] Germany's mechanical engineering sector would be happy with stagnant sales this year as political uncertainty from Britain to Russia to North Africa drags on investment decisions, the president of its industry association, the VDMA, told Reuters.

The VDMA's more than 3,000 members are a bulwark of Germany's export-led economy, generating sales of 218 billion euros (S$374.26 billion) last year and employing more than a million people.

"I would be happy if we would have zero growth, both at home and abroad," Reinhold Festge said in an interview. "Business in Germany isn't bad, but little Germany by itself can't save us any more."

Three quarters of German mechanical engineering sales are made abroad, with the United States overtaking China as the most important export market last year.

REUTERS