Friedolin Strack is a permanent fixture at the Federation of German Industries (BDI). Now 55, he began his BDI career in 1994 – at that time still at headquarters in Bonn. Initially, Strack focused mainly on transatlantic relations, but the impending move to Berlin ensured, in a double sense, that Strack turned east. „There was a vacancy in the Asia-Pacific Committee at the time because the move was imminent,“ Strack recalls. Stefan Winter, the head of the International Markets Department, approached him and asked him whether he could imagine being more active in the Asian region from now on.