Baden-Württemberg’s State Secretary for Economic Affairs Katrin Schütz will travel to Paris tomorrow (12 March) for the JEC World Trade Fair, one of the world’s leading trade fairs for the composites industry. Schütz emphasized the importance of the lightweight construction industry for the country in the run-up to their trip. “The development and use of innovative lightweight construction solutions is an important prerequisite for the competitiveness of Southwest German industry. It is impressive how multi-faceted lightweight construction is, and I am firmly convinced that we will continue to occupy a leading position in this future topic in the coming years,” said the State Secretary. “The trade fair is an excellent opportunity for our companies to show what know-how and further potential there is in the field of lightweight construction in our federal state.

In addition to visiting the joint Baden-Württemberg stand at the trade fair, the State Secretary for Economic Affairs also opened the Automotive Composites Circle, which Baden-Württemberg is organising jointly with the US state of Michigan.

“The world market and in particular the key industries are undergoing a process of rapid and far-reaching change. It is therefore particularly important that the existing players are able to adapt to changing processes and scenarios in good time and retain technological core competencies. Innovations in lightweight construction are more in demand than ever, not only in the automotive industry, but also in the fields of mechanical engineering, automation and aerospace,” said Schütz.

The State Secretary also made it clear that politics and business had long recognised the importance of the lightweight construction industry and had provided financial support for research in this area in particular. Since 2011, Baden-Württemberg has invested far more than 50 million euros in strengthening this lightweight construction location. The State Agency for Lightweight Construction “Leichtbau BW” promotes and supports industry and science in the field of lightweight construction on behalf of the State of Baden-Württemberg.

For the fourth time in a row, Baden-Württemberg companies will be taking part in the joint Baden-Württemberg International stand at JEC World with 23 exhibitors.

Innovative lightweight construction materials and resource-efficient composite materials are used in numerous applications ranging from the automotive industry to the construction and energy industries and aerospace technology. In order to improve the networking of the development and user industries, the state supports the State Agency for Lightweight Construction BW GmbH and the state-wide network “Allianz Faserbasierte Werkstoffe Baden-Württemberg e. V.”. (AFBW).