Germany's economy has bottomed out and is set for modest growth in 2010, although unemployment could rise without a quick recovery in the global economy, journalists from the country told a recent symposium in Tokyo.
Europe's largest economy has suffered severely from the global financial crisis because of its heavy dependence on exports, but the nation will likely continue to be driven by its "classical industries" — like automobiles, chemicals and mechanical engineering — in the coming years, they said.
Even though Germany has emerged from the worst recession in decades, its recovery is expected to be weak — with 2010 growth forecast by the OECD at 1.5 percent, compared with 1.8 percent for Japan and 2.5 percent for the United States, Christoph Kapalschinski, editor of corporate news at the Handelsblatt business daily, said at a symposium Nov. 30 co-hosted by Robert Bosch stifftung and Keizai Koho Center.