VDMA: Change of Chief Economist and Head of Foreign Trade

Dr. Gernandt is already Head of the Tax Department and the Competence Center for Economic Policy Issues as well as Managing Director of the VDMA's Impuls Foundation. He will continue to hold these positions. Dr. Ralph Wiechers is retiring after almost 34 years with the association. He was appointed Chief Economist of the VDMA in 2000 and has also been a member of the Executive Board since 2015.

Oliver Richtberg succeeds Ulrich Ackermann, who is also retiring after almost 39 years with the association.

"The mechanical and plant engineering industry has benefited enormously from the knowledge and commitment of Dr. Ralph Wiechers and Ulrich Ackermann to the industry over all these years," says VDMA Managing Director Thilo Brodtmann. "Both are luminaries in their fields and have also helped shape the transformation of the association into a modern, interdisciplinary organization."

In Dr. Johannes Gernandt, 46, the association has appointed an economic policy expert as Chief Economist who is very familiar with the needs of the mechanical and plant engineering sector, which is dominated by SMEs. Dr. Gernandt was a research assistant at ZEW Mannheim and completed his doctorate in economics at the University of Mannheim. He joined the VDMA in 2010 as assistant to the Managing Director and keeps the association on track in terms of regulatory policy. "The VDMA stands for freedom, market economy and competition, summarized in the term regulatory policy. I am committed to these values out of conviction and look forward to continuing to represent them with more responsibility," he emphasizes.

Oliver Richtberg, 39, began his career at the VDMA in the foreign trade department, where he was responsible for the "Danke Freihandel" campaign, among other things. He then worked as a personal advisor to the Managing Director on various strategic projects before moving back to the Foreign Trade department. "At a time of increasing geopolitical tension, it is more important than ever to advocate for strong and fair trade relations," he says. Oliver Richtberg studied economics and politics in Marburg and Cologne and worked in the German Bundestag in Berlin before joining the VDMA.