VZCZCXRO2229
RR RUEHAG RUEHLZ
DE RUEHDF #0013/01 1101530
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 201530Z APR 07
FM AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0071
INFO RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHDF/AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF 0084

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DUSSELDORF 000013 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR EUR/FO, EUR/AGS, EUR/EX AND CA/EX 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AMGT ECON CMGT PGOV BEXP GM
SUBJECT: A VISION AND A WAY FORWARD FOR CG DUESSELDORF 
 
 
DUSSELDORF 00000013  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  Summary:  After a thorough review of CG Duesseldorf 
operations, we have developed a roadmap for the long run that 
differs radically from the past and implements the Secretary's 
transformational diplomacy directives.  Our vision is to 
continue advancing vital US interests in Germany and Europe from 
a small platform in North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW), Germany's most 
populous and politically and economically most important state. 
By fall 2008, when our restructuring is complete, our presence 
and activities here will be transformed.  Following the closure 
of our American Citizen Services section in July and the 
transfer of five PD staff from Amerika Haus Cologne (AHK) to 
Duesseldorf by the end of FY 2007, our core focus will be on our 
interests in the heart of western Germany: supporting American 
business and promoting economic relations with the U.S.; public 
diplomacy, particularly engaging with NRW-based national and 
regional media and promoting a more sophisticated understanding 
of the U.S. among elites, opinion leaders and successor 
generations; and political and terrorism-related reporting.  As 
NRW (and Cologne in particular) is widely considered the 
"capital of Islam in Germany," we will ramp up our already 
significant Muslim engagement.  Finally, we are completing the 
transfer of AHK to a coalition of German partners who will 
establish an institution with which we can cooperate on future 
public affairs activities, providing an unofficial but important 
public presence.  This much smaller footprint will enable 
continued effective representation of USG interests in this 
powerful region in the heart of Europe.  End Summary. 
 
Why NRW Matters 
--------------- 
 
¶2.  A small USG presence in NRW will deliver quantifiable added 
value for our interests that are very difficult if not 
impossible to accomplish remotely, say, from Berlin or 
Frankfurt.  To review NRW's very prominent position within the 
German context and more broadly -- which U.S. business 
constituencies (including USDOC) as well as German and other 
experts well understand but which can be underappreciated -- we 
summarize some of NRW's more salient aspects: 
 
-- NRW has about 22 percent of the German population and a 
comparable share of total GDP.  Demographers and economists 
liken NRW's economic weight and importance for Germany as a 
whole -- in U.S. terms -- to that of California, Texas and New 
York combined.  If NRW were an independent country, it would 
rank about 17-19th in the world in terms of its GDP (2005 
figures), or on the order of magnitude of a Netherlands, 
Australia, Switzerland, or Brazil.  Among the EU 27, NRW is 
sixth in terms of GDP (after Spain) and eighth in terms of 
population (after Romania). 
 
-- Nearly half (21 or 42%) of the top 50 German companies and 
1/3 of the DAX 30 firms are headquartered in NRW -- including 
heavyweights like Deutsche Telekom, Deutsche Post, Henkel, E.ON, 
RWE, Bertelsmann, ThyssenKrupp, and Bayer; all have enormous 
interests in the United States and employ hundreds of thousands 
of Americans. 
 
-- About 640 U.S. companies are located in NRW, directly 
employing some 170,000 and many thousands more, generating some 
54 billion Euros annually.  The most important U.S. firms 
include: Ford Germany and Ford Europe HQ (a production facility 
employing 18,000 persons); the largest Opel (GM) assembly plant 
in Germany; 3M; UPS; QVC; Microsoft; Delphi; Johnson Controls; 
Masterfoods; Heinz; DuPont; Goodyear; all the major U.S. 
consulting companies; several major U.S. law firms; and fashion 
and advertising firms.  Half of Germany's largest wholesalers 
and retailers, which are excellent partners for US exporters, 
are based in NRW.  Many of these serve as European or regional 
headquarters. 
 
-- NRW is the world's number one trade fair location, with more 
than 100 internationally leading trade fairs per year in 
Cologne, D|sseldorf, Essen and Dortmund, which attract more than 
6 million visitors/year.  This is one major reason for the large 
FCS presence in Duesseldorf (the largest in Germany and one of 
the largest in Europe).  NRW thus is pivotal because of its own 
market size, purchasing power, and excellent infrastructure and 
is increasingly important as a platform for U.S. firms to do 
business worldwide. 
 
-- NRW hosts more than 5 million trade visitors annually. 
Duesseldorf's FCS Section aggressively supports the 3,000 plus 
US exhibitors (2005/2006) and, through its industry 
specialization role, hundreds of exhibitors at shows outside of 
NRW.  FCS Duesseldorf has lead responsibility within Mission 
Germany for over 24 industry and consumer product sectors, with 
particular focus on the healthcare technologies (for which it 
coordinates activities among Commercial Service posts in Europe 
and other regions of the world), industrial and capital goods 
and materials, and many consumer products. 
 
DUSSELDORF 00000013  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
-- FCS Duesseldorf is the worldwide leader in the Commerce 
Department's recently announced "Invest in USA" program.  Future 
investments by German firms in the U.S. are projected to exceed 
$3 billion over the near term, generating tens of thousands of 
direct and indirect American jobs. 
 
-- About one third of Germany's more than 3 million strong 
Muslim population resides in NRW.  The four leading Muslim 
umbrella organizations (Zentralrat der Muslime/ZMD, Islamrat, 
DITIB, Verband der Islamischen Kulturzentren/VIKZ), as well as 
the newly formed Coordination Council of Muslims (KRM), are 
headquartered in the state, as are other key groups, such as 
Milli Gvr|s. 
 
-- NRW remains the only state in Germany with an Integration 
Ministry with a special responsibility for integrating NRW's 
large immigrant population, in particular those with a Turkish 
and Muslim background. 
 
-- More than 450,000 students study at NRW universities which 
educate about 23 percent of all university graduates in Germany. 
 Five of Germany's ten largest universities are located in NRW, 
including Cologne, Germany's largest, with 45,000 students. 
 
-- Six German ministries (including Defense, Foreign Aid, and 
Environment), key to advancing U.S. interests in Europe and 
globally, remain in the Bonn area.  This also applies to the 
Ministry of Health and ancillary institutions, which are of 
particular significance to FCS.  A number of important German 
federal agencies important to US business and other interests 
(e.g. the Federal Cartel Office and the Regulatory Authority for 
Telecommunications and Energy) also remain in Bonn, where more 
federal workers work  than in Berlin.  Seven U.N. organizations 
are headquartered in Bonn. 
 
-- NRW has the second largest number of foreign representations 
in Germany by consular district: Berlin approx 131; D|sseldorf 
53 (plus 34 trade and investment promotion offices); Frankfurt 
44; Hamburg 31; Munich 27; and Leipzig 6 (Duesseldorf figures 
from April 2007; others from 2006). 
 
-- NRW is the second most populous consular district in Mission 
Germany, with a population of about 18.1 million.  (Frankfurt 
leads with 21.9, Hamburg is third with 14.9, followed by Munich 
with 12.4, Leipzig with 9.1 and Berlin with 6 million.) 
 
Who We Want to be After 2008 
---------------------------- 
 
¶3.  We are revamping our structure to create a CG Duesseldorf 
resting on four pillars that will enable us to advance U.S. 
interests in this major region, but with significantly fewer 
personnel and other resources. 
 
a) Two American officers (PO and IROG) along with 12 total LES 
staff (PD, P/E, and MGT).  This would be two FSO and seven LES 
positions fewer than we had in summer 2006.  This scenario 
depends on replacing the three FSOs (PAO, P/E and CON/MGT) we 
will have lost by summer 2008 with one IROG officer (who would 
handle PD, P/E, and MGT functions), using a position 
reprogrammed from Berlin to coincide with the 2008 summer 
transfer cycle (see septel).  Without this additional officer, 
we would be unable to carry out our current responsibilities to 
the Mission or to Washington, and could only provide a much 
reduced PD program, less visit support, and little reporting. 
 
b) A robust Commercial Service presence consisting of seven LES 
staff and a locally engaged American Director, to cover the 
enormous amount of trade fair activity in NRW and to promote 
trade and investment ties.  This represents no change from the 
present. 
 
c) A 5-person PD section consisting of a Cultural Specialist 
(senior PD FSN), a Press Specialist, the Information 
Coordinator, and two Cultural Affairs Assistants.  This team 
will assume the most important activities of the four PD LES 
staff whose positions are being eliminated.  As NRW (and Cologne 
in particular) is widely referred to as the "capital of Islam in 
Germany," we will ramp up our already significant Muslim 
engagement.  We have also made a promising start in transferring 
AHK to a coalition of German partners who, under the leadership 
of Cologne Mayor Fritz Schramma, will take over a legacy 
institution that will -- in the successful tradition of 
German-American Institutes in Bavaria and Baden Wuerttemberg -- 
significantly enhance our public affairs activities, providing 
unofficial but important public presence. 
 
d) An Amcit Consular Agent working out of the successor 
institution to AHK in Cologne, occupying an office that Mayor 
Schramma has offered to the USG at no cost.  This proposal would 
 
DUSSELDORF 00000013  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
help mitigate the negative PR effects the cessation of all ACS 
services will have among the estimated 11,000 Amcits (plus dual 
nationals, whose number we do not know but believe could easily 
exceed 20,000) who reside in our consular district, as well as 
among the almost two thousand German citizens and other 
nationals who use our notarial and other services annually.  It 
would also handle the more time consuming ACS work (prison 
visits, child custody, etc) that would be inefficient to cover 
from Frankfurt.  This scenario is vastly less expensive 
(approximately $35,000/annum for a full time Consular Agent, or 
about 1/3 the cost of one senior FSN) than the current ACS unit. 
 A cable spelling out this scenario follows septel. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶4.  The vision sketched out here for CG Duesseldorf will result 
in major savings while ensuring a trimmed-to-the-bone staffing 
pattern and minimal footprint for advancing US interests in a 
major region in Germany and Europe.  We have undertaken this 
thorough review of our operations in close cooperation and 
consultation with Embassy Berlin.  The Consulate General would 
be unable to manage the breadth and depth of our interests in 
NRW with only one American officer -- however talented and 
active, and however good our LES staff may be.  A one-officer 
scenario (essentially an expanded APP) would be unable to cover 
properly a state as important as NRW in a country as important 
as Germany.  From this small platform, we will be able to 
continue mobilizing important constituencies as partners in our 
bilateral and global agenda, engaging Germany's most important 
Muslim leaders and population centers, and providing the support 
that U.S. business expect and deserves. 
 
¶5.  An additional FSO position, reprogrammed from Berlin in 
summer 2008 would enable us to do considerably more than with 
only one officer, and significantly improve our productivity, 
particularly in the PD area.  A Consular Agent would lessen the 
pressure on Frankfurt, which will face major increases in 
workload and costs following the transfer of consular services, 
while also demonstrating USG commitment to American citizens. 
 
¶6.  Embassy Berlin has cleared this cable. 
BOYSE