Deukmejian Tells Germans of State Hopes for Business Links to Europe

In a long meeting with Chancellor Helmut Kohl and a speech to West German business leaders, Gov. George Deukmejian sought Friday to play down California’s natural ties to the Pacific Rim and play up the state’s eagerness to deal commercially with Europe.

“We don’t simply see California as being on the rim of the Pacific,” Deukmejian assured the Germans. “We see our state at the center of a balanced world economy that emphasizes closer ties with both Europe and with Asia.”

The governor used the occasion to announce that he has selected Frankfurt as the location for a new California trade and investment office. Deukmejian also fervently explained to both Kohl and the business leaders the positive side of California’s ethnic diversity and its most recent influx of minority immigrants.

“These newcomers provide renewed energy in our state,” he said.

Some German businessmen expressed curiosity about the assimilation of different cultures, especially its effect on the quality of California’s work force.

‘Strong Signal’

Prodded by a U.S. Embassy official, who said some German businessmen might be concerned because California voters increasingly have been making laws through the initiative process, Deukmejian conceded that he and the Legislature received “a very strong signal” in last November’s election.

The message, he said, was “that we’re not resolving some of the more critical issues for the average person and that we’d better do so or we’re going to see more of the those types of propositions” being sponsored by special interests.

On the first full day of a trip designed to promote California products and investment opportunities and preach against trade protectionism, Deukmejian met with U.S. Ambassador Richard R. Burt for 45 minutes and with West German Chancellor Kohl for more than an hour. He later addressed about 60 members of the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce and answered questions about California.

Kohl does not normally meet with touring American governors, noted a U.S. Embassy official who requested anonymity, adding that the chancellor made an exception for Deukmejian because of the political and economic importance of California.

Public Relations

It also was widely speculated among Americans here that the meeting was part of a new public relations offensive by Kohl in the wake of his government’s embarrassment over the involvement of West German companies in building a controversial chemical plant in Libya.

Deukmejian said the plant, which has soured Bonn-Washington relations, was not mentioned in his meetings either with Kohl or Burt. It was loudly mentioned, however, by the president of the Chambers of Commerce, chain-saw manufacturer Hans Peter Stihl, while introducing Deukmejian.

Stihl condemned the “black sheep among German firms” that helped build the plant, which the United States contends can produce chemical weapons. He called it a “stain” on West Germany.

Deukmejian stayed clear of the controversy and focused on the upbeat subjects of trade and investment, emphasizing that California considers Europe to be just as important as the Pacific Rim.

“We think there is a perception in Europe--and the chancellor confirmed it--that California is mainly interested in the Asian area,” Deukmejian told reporters.

Kohl expressed regrets that European businessmen think of America primarily as the Atlantic Seaboard, the governor said. “He senses there’s been a shift toward the Pacific and a lot of Germans haven’t yet picked up on that.”

But James P. Phillips, director of California’s London-based trade and investment office, said there are geographical and cultural barriers to Europeans doing business in the state.

The nine-hour time difference between California and the European continent makes communication difficult, he noted in an interview. “Also, Europeans say they send their people out to California and they become too independent. They want to make their own decisions.

“People ask about the drug scene, not only concerned for their families but also they wonder if it’s a problem in the workplace,” Phillips continued. “They ask about the freeways. They go to L.A. and get scared to death.

“They think California is oriented toward the Pacific, and they don’t feel as welcome.”

Deukmejian said Kohl specifically asked him “about our different ethnic communities.” Why? “He just was interested. I think he realizes there are unique challenges.”

California’s population is estimated to be 59% Anglo, 24% Latino, 8% black and 9% Asian and “other.” By contrast, West Germany’s population is primarily native German, with Danes making up the chief minority. Some businessmen said in interviews, however, that there is increasing concern here about immigration from the Middle East.

Deukmejian was asked by one business leader to explain how California deals with immigrants, especially from Mexico. The governor, whose parents were Armenian immigrants, responded somewhat passionately, declaring that “We believe there is strength from ethnic diversity.”

He traced the history of migration to California from Mexico, China and Japan and pointed out that Central Americans and Southeast Asians recently have poured into the state. “They come because they’re seeking opportunity, seeking freedom, trying to get away from oppression,” Deukmejian said.

“They are enthusiastic, willing to work hard, get an education for their children--and we’re very encouraged.” As “a side benefit,” he told the businessmen, they foster trade with their homelands.

Afterward, the business leader who asked the question--an investor who did not want to be identified--said that many of his colleagues worry about California’s “open frontier” and influx of “economic refugees.”

He and a German business counselor said there is a concern about the quality of goods produced in California by immigrants and other minorities they consider to be unskilled.

Deukmejian’s meeting with Kohl was held around a small glass coffee table in the middle of the chancellor’s large, modestly decorated office. The governor gave Kohl two bottles of California wine--a 1978 Mondavi Cabernet sauvignon and a 1984 Joseph Phelps Chardonnay.