The German Federal Minister of Economic Affairs and Energy, Brigitte Zypries, paid a visit to MV Werften in Wismar on Wednesday.

She was accompanied by Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’s Minister for Economic Affairs, Employment and Health, Harry Glawe, according to a press release.

The focus of the visit was on conversations with the management of the shipbuilding group and a guided tour of the premises. Genting CEO and Chairman Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay and MV Werften Chief Financial Officer Richard Gruenhagen, together with further representatives, told the Minister about their current shipbuilding program and their extensive investment plans.

Zypries said: “The commitment of the Genting Group at their three MV Werften sites in Wismar, Rostock and Stralsund is having a positive effect on the number of jobs available in these local areas, on Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as a maritime-focused region and on the entire ‘Made in Germany’ supply industry. The maritime economy plays a key role in the competitiveness of the German economy and in the securing of growth and employment.”

“The effect on employment and on value creation for the region is already huge,” explainedGruenhagen. “And we are making further investment in our three sites. By the time we have set up production for our ‘Global Class’ cruise ships, the volume of investment will have reached more than half a billion euros, with investment being made in both modernisation and new construction projects in our shipyard facilities, as well as in recruiting and staff training.”

Last November, the shipyard launched the biggest job offensive yet in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, it said.

Since then, over 300 new members of staff have been recruited. With currently over 1,600 employees, MV Werften is one of the biggest employers in the state. By 2021, the number of employees will have almost doubled, rising to over 3,000, and there will also be employment opportunities for around 3,000 external partners.