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Siemens, I understand, was one of the pioneers
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in establishing this function, Christian.
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Can you tell us maybe a bit more about the importance
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of having this function within the company?
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I mean, when we started the department,
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there were first discussions around mid 2019
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and then later implementing the department in 2020
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was a period that we thought that was really important
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to understand a little bit more holistically
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what was happening in the world.
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So geopolitical trends, developments had an important
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impact in companies like ours, which is present
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in over 190 countries.
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So this is really important on one angle about
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our presence and footprint globally,
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and the second is about the technology
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that we are engaging with.
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And since then, I think the pandemic accelerated
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a lot of challenges and of course to overcome
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those challenges and also the recovery plans
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that took place afterwards.
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But of course, we're entering a phase in which countries
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are more focused a lot on their domestic resilience,
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but also still in areas of cooperation
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amongst on international release,
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but a lot of intensification competition
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or strategic competition in many cases
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after recent developments and conflicts and war.
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So I think this is an important element for companies
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to understand the changes have the globalization,
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the last 30 years reached a level, and now we're seeing
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a lot of what we call "glocalization."
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So it's a mix of the global developments that we have
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in the past, but also with a stronger footprint
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and local presence as well.
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And this is important because this creates
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also opportunities, not just about the risks.
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And companies can have a... By understanding
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and translating this can really early anticipate
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the challenges that may come from different policies,
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but also opportunities.
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If you can, tell us a little bit more about
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how do you actually structure this geopolitical radar
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within the company.
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I understand that you, of course, look at companies
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as governments, but you also look, for example,
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at international organizations and maybe others.
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The department itself, we try to structure in a couple,
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let's say, topics. One, it's of course, the geopolitical
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advisory really to understand from what are the trends,
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what are the domestic and foreign policy,
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how they interconnect on international politics.
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And this becomes more and more a special attention
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on what is driving risks. Restrictions on one side,
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on the other side, opportunities, investments,
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and opportunities of trade.
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So this is on one angle. But a lot that we do is,
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OK, one thing is this analysis and advisory,
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but we are also actively engaging externally.
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And we try to engage with different international
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and multinational forums, connecting with international
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organizations such as United Nations,
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such as the World Trade Organization,
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but also in activities with OECD
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and of course ICC and many other organizations.
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And I believe this is an important way in which you can also
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have a broader outreach and position our views
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and of course our positions towards specific topics
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representing the company's interests.
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There's a lot of internal work, but it's also a mix of,
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we're trying to balance the more and more external work
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and connecting with the right stakeholders
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to be able to drive, let's say, the function further.