Former German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder speaks about the key to economic growth. (Photo: SAP)

Vishal let more than 10 customers speak for themselves on stage, via video messages to the audience. He profiled the success of customers such as Suning, T-Mobile, China Telecom, Colgate-Palmolive, Cisco, Delta Airlines, ICICI Bank, Mitsui Knowledge Industries, Alliander, BigPoint, Liverpool, Kingfisher, Nongfu Spring, Haier, and others had with the SAP HANA platform.

Vishal also announced the “SAP Startup Focus program” for China, aiming to help startups scale their business through the adoption and development of new applications on the SAP HANA platform.

Trying out his Mandarin, Vishal offered a proverb to the crowd: “The future does not have to be an extension of the past; it can be anything that we can make it.”

40 years of China and Germany

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder was an appropriate figurehead to address the crowd of over 10,000 at the event, which was also the occasion of 40 years of official relations between China and Germany. He emphasized the importance of collaboration among nations to master the world’s pressing challenges.

In the long term, Schröder said, innovation and sustainable economic growth are only possible in an open society. Sustainable growth should drive the modernization strategy for all countries. The concept of sustainable growth includes economic growth, environmental protection, and social progress.

Technology is key, he affirmed, in enabling innovation and the development of talent. “No talent should go undiscovered,” he said, and the opportunity for education is paramount for the advancement of China and all countries.

Read how SAP will help China achieve its goals on the next page

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