The discussion commenced with the Welcome address and Opening remarks by Mr. Bernhard Steinrücke, Director General of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, who introduced the topic. The Skilled Immigration Act is a new law which makes it easier and increases the opportunities for skilled people from non-EU countries to come and work in Germany. To begin with it will be implemented in three countries – Brazil, Vietnam and India.
He also enunciated that the mission is to get this law working (which was also reiterated by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel during her India visit in October 2019), stressing on the point that AHK needs partners for the implementation especially for the visa process and language certification. Furthermore, he emphasized that Germany needs "white collar workers" as well as "blue collar workers". In addition, India could benefit in the long term from the work experience of young Indians in Germany when they return back, well-trained, to India.
This was followed by the insights from the German MP Mr. Christian Hirte, who explained the political intentions of the law and referred to Germany's aging society and thus, a need for young skilled people to be a part of the workforce. “It’s not only the job of the politics but a collective effort of the Chamber, Embassy and Consulates to make this law work”, he added.
Subsequently, the rest of the participants introduced themselves and gave their views on the topic. In the course of the conversation, the representatives from different institutions shared the initiatives and CSR programmes of their organisations which not only include sending young Indians to Germany for training, but also providing vocational training in the fields of plumbing and carpentery, optimizing skill development initiative.
Another aspect of the discussion was a broad agreement on the importance of adequate German language skills. Different approaches to spreading the language at Indian schools were therefore discussed. Besides that, the need for intercultural competence was highlighted.
The challenges underlined bureaucratic barriers on both sides as well as the lack of support for German companies in hiring Indians.
The two-hour Roundtable provided insights into the different perspectives of the participants and their approaches as well as measures/steps taken by the member institutions like Goethe-Institut/ Max Mueller Bhavan by introducing new courses in two of its branches in India, increasing the number of slots as well as setting up mobile examination centres in order to promote the German language and increase the number of German learners in India as German language skills are an essential constituent of criteria for aspirants who want to benefit from this law.
The discussion was concluded with the remarks by Mr, Peter Rimmele, Resident Representative of KAS India, who pointed out that the public debate in Germany very often mixes up the question of legal immigration like for “Fachkräfte” and the cases of asylum seekers (refugees) for political reasons.
With regards to this new German Skilled Immigration Law, it is believed that a collective effort of all stakeholder institutions is required to transfer the decision of law to reality and this law will cement Indo-German ties even further.