Ramón Sotomayor, president of ThyssenKrupp.

1. ThyssenKrupp has located its most important research center in Spain… Could you explain the reasons and give us an overview of its development since it was set up in 2007?
Our Escalator and Passenger Boarding Bridges business unit (ThyssenKrupp Elevator ES/PBB) is devoted to the design, manufacture, sale and maintenance of horizontal transport systems for passengers all around the world. We have worldwide responsibility for the mechanical escalator, moving walkway, TurboTrack and boarding bridge product range in the ThyssenKrupp Holding1.

The horizontal transport business is global, but we have the world headquarters of our Business Unit in Mieres, Asturias (Spain) from where we manage manufacturing centers in Fort Worth (US), Hamburg (Germany), Asturias3 (Spain) and Zhongshan (China).

The globalization of the markets and the extent to which our business has internationalized have obliged us to become increasingly competitive. R&D and Innovation therefore play an essential role, and enable us to keep up with new developments on the market such as the entry of a New Generation of Large Aircraft, new solutions for variable speed horizontal transport, or the need to provide solutions accessible for everyone including people with problems of mobility and prams.

All this worldwide R&D and Innovation work has been carried out in the Center ThyssenKrupp Elevator (ES/PBB) has located in the Laboral University of the Asturias Region. The center has Research and Development Offices and an actual-size prototypes laboratory.

The main reasons why the Center was located in Asturias are as follows:
- We have a young and innovative group in Asturias, which had already demonstrated its worth developing radically innovative horizontal transport projects.
- The proximity of the Location of the Laboral University in Gijón to the Regional Center in Mieres in which the whole range of products is manufactured under our guidance.
- The existence of agreements with the University of Oviedo and the Technology Centers.
- Institutional backing from the Government of the Region and from other Asturian institutions for all the projects developed in Asturias since we began our activities in 1991.

Since locating in Asturias, ThyssenKrupp Elevator (ES/PBB) has always been committed to fostering research, development and innovation in the field of horizontal transport systems jointly with the Asturias Regional Government, and in collaboration with educational institutions, university centers, research centers and technology centers in Asturias. The intention is also to make the best use possible of European, national and regional R&D and Innovation support programs and to foment business competitiveness within the Asturias science and technology system. Technological support is given from this center to the factories of ThyssenKrupp Elevator (ES/PBB), and the incremental innovation of the products that ThyssenKrupp Elevator (ES/PBB) has installed all around the world is managed there too.

2. What are the main innovation projects ThyssenKrupp Elevator is working on?
The center is structured around five strategic mainstays for innovation applied to the projects we are working on: Accessibility, Mobility, Modularity, Sustainability and New Materials.

At the ThyssenKrupp Elevator Innovation Center we have developed the iwalk: A modular and sophisticated horizontal walkway for passengers accessible to the disabled, wheelchairs and prams, which can be installed in any infrastructure or historical environments, permanently or temporarily with no need for civil work. The iwalk was awarded the Accesit Impulso prize for Technological Development this year by the Economic Development Institute of the Asturias Region.

Technology is developed at the ThyssenKrupp Elevator Innovation Center applied in practice in more than 60% of passenger boarding bridges installed around the world every year.

At the ThyssenKrupp Elevator (ES/PBB) centers in Asturias we have researched, developed and manufactured the first boarding bridges capable of being used by the new Airbus A-380 installed in Airbus’s center in Toulouse and the most important airports around the world such as London Heathrow, Paris CDG, Frankfurt, Guangzhou and Dubai.

At the ThyssenKrupp Elevator (ES/PBB) centers in Asturias we have researched, developed and manufactured the first units of the TurboTrack, a radically innovative continuous and variable speed passenger transport system, which is unique in the world. It has just been installed in Toronto Airport. The TurboTrack is the first Spanish project to receive the Canadeka certification for collaboration on Research and Development between Spain and Canada. It was also awarded the top prize given by the ThyssenKrupp Holding1 to the best innovation project in all its business areas around the world.

3. Your company is a member of the R&D Foundation, a group of seven multinationals committed to R&D in Spain in their respective areas. What are the Foundation’s main areas of work at this moment in time?
It is made up of 7 companies, each of which are world leaders in their sector, groups whose headquarters are outside Spain, but with major R&D centers in Spain from 7 different countries: Alstom (France), ArcelorMittal (Luxembourg), Ericsson (Sweden), Hero (Switzerland), HP (US), Sony (Japan) and ThyssenKrupp Elevator (Germany). The Spain Innovation Foundation represents the commitment of multinational companies to the creation of a meeting place for the promotion of R&D in Spain; to transmit our global experience in innovation and to promote Spain as a favorable environment for R&D and innovation.

The Spain Innovation Foundation aims to Promote R&D and Innovation in Spain, through the promotion of Spain as an ideal location for setting up companies of a highly innovative nature, such as multinationals; the promotion of the creation of and backing for Innovation Centers in Spain in collaboration with the Public Administrations, and the promotion of R&D and Innovation in the business fabric of the country.

4. To what extent is Innovation a useful tool to help us overcome the current downturn?
It is strategic because it helps us become more competitive and develop new solutions in all our business areas. The Global R&D and Innovation Center in Asturias enables us to research and develop new products that can be executed in our manufacturing centers to improve competitiveness in our factories and renew products, which in turn improves our presence in the market. Investment in R&D and Innovation enables us to develop projects for design, purchase and manufacture around the world, to be able to adapt in a more flexible way to the needs of the market and to more speedily include new technologies in our Products, Processes and Services.

5. Do you think the Spanish government does enough to support R&D in companies? What could it do better?
I think the institutions of the government are making major efforts to promote R&D and Innovation in Spain as is reflected in the National Plan for Scientific Research, Development and Technological Innovation, despite the fact that the results of these efforts can still not be sufficiently perceived in the position of Spain in some worldwide R&D indicators. Whatever the case may be, R&D and Innovation is an obligation for all of us in the government and its institutions, and in companies, Research Centers and Educational Centers, and for those who have gained experience in other markets and countries and can back these actions and complement them as far as is possible. We believe therefore that the fact that a multinational such as ours recognizes Spain as a suitable place in which to locate a World R&D and Innovation center is an indicator of how Spain is an excellent place for Globalized R&D and Innovation. Our experience is very positive and a reference within our segment.

1 ThyssenKrupp AG, based in Dusseldorf, Germany, is a global technology company made up of five business segments: Steel, Stainless Steel, Technologies, Elevators and Services. The company generated sales of around 53,400 million euros in fiscal year 2007/2008. ThyssenKrupp AG has a workforce of more than 199,000 in 80 countries.

2 ThyssenKrupp Elevator is one of the biggest elevation companies in the world with representation in more than 800 locations in 80 countries. It has more than 42,000 employees. It generated sales of around 4,930 billion euros in fiscal year 2007/2008 (ending on the 30th of September 2008). The product range includes elevators, load lifters, escalators, moving walkways, escapes-stairs, elevating platforms, boarding bridges for airports and TurboTracks, as well as quality services for all the products.

3 ThyssenKrupp Elevator (ES/PBB) has four centers in Asturias: ThyssenKrupp Norte, located in Mieres for the manufacture of escalators, moving walkways and TurboTrack; ThyssenKrupp Airport Systems located in Mieres for the development of airport projects and the manufacture of boarding bridges for airports; ThyssenKrupp Airport Services, located in Mieres and devoted to airport services with delegations in Madrid, Barcelona, London, Paris, Dubai, Istanbul and Lima; and the ThyssenKrupp Elevator Innovation Center world center for R&D and Innovation of ThyssenKrupp Elevator ES/PBB. At the ThyssenKrupp Elevator Innovation Center worldwide R&D and Innovation activities are carried out for escalators, moving walkways and boarding bridges for airports and technological support is provided to the factories run by the business unit all around the world.