Lanxess to Expand Global Political Communication

Specialty chemicals group Lanxess says it intends to intensify communication with political and social leaders on a global level. As a first step towards accomplishing this, the company is expanding its presence in Berlin with the move to a new liaison office in the German capital. This office will open on January 20, prior to the “Lanxess Kick-Off Berlin 2011” event. Lanxess also intends to open an office in Brussels some time in the spring.

Plans are also afoot at Lanxess to step up political dialogue in its global growth markets. The most significant of these are the BRIC markets, along with South Korea, Japan, Singapore and the United States. This dialogue, the company explains, will mainly centre on relevant issues in the area of energy and environmental policy, and in the university and education sector. Other focuses for political communication will be issues affecting corporate strategy, including eco-friendly product and process innovations, the development of raw material and energy markets, and labour market and educational issues.

“Maintaining a continuous exchange with political and social leaders is an integral part of corporate responsibility at Lanxess. By increasing our involvement, we want to shape political and social processes more actively and internationally than before, and establish the framework conditions required for sustainable development,” explained Christoph Sieder, head of Corporate Communications at Lanxess AG.

To support its expanded activities, the group has appointed a new Public Affairs team. The new office in Berlin will also be headed by Johannes Neukirchen. Formerly head of a government ministerial department, he has already represented the Lanxess Group’s interests in the German capital in past times. He will now be supported by Benjamin Simonic, who transferred to Lanxess from the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI). The new representative for Lanxess in Brussels is Stefan Borst, previously EU correspondent for the German news magazine Focus. Silke Jansen will continue to be responsible for political communication at Lanxess’ German production locations and to head up the global education initiative. Axel Vassen will coordinate all global-level activities relating to public affairs and corporate responsibility. Responsible overall for the field of Public Affairs is Christoph Sieder, the company’s head of Corporate Communications.