Chairmen

Gerhard Schröder was born 7 April 1944 in Mossenberg, Germany. After completing an apprenticeship and graduating from secondary school, Gerhard Schröder began to study law and passed the first state examination in 1971. In 1976 he passed his second state examination and received his admission to practice law. From 1980 to 1986 and from 1998 to 2005 he was member of the German Bundestag. In the 1990 election he was elected to the Minister-President of the State of Lower Saxony. On 27 October 1998, Gerhard Schröder was sworn in as the seventh Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. He remained in office until 2005. Gerhard Schröder is currently freelance lawyer in Hannover.

Prof. Dr. Hans-Jörg Schmidt-Trenz was born in 1959, became officer of the German Army in 1978 and studied economics at Saarland University (Germany) and University of Michigan (USA) from 1980 to 1984. Since 2000 he has been a professor of economics. His scientific work is devoted to the theory and practice of international trade and new institutional economics. He started his career in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Karlsruhe in 1988. From 1996 to 2017 he was CEO of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, for which he currently works as representative and counsellor. Prof. Dr. Schmidt-Trenz is President of the Hamburg School of Business Administration and Chairman of the “Hamburg Summit: China meets Europe”. He is also member of the Executive Committee of the World Chambers Federation and chairman of the working group of the European Chamber CEOs.

Robert Lorenz-Meyer is a board member of Ernst Russ AG. In addition to his assignment as commissioner for International Affairs of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, he is a member of the advisory board of Allianz Global and Corporate Specialty SE, a member of the board of directors and vice chairman of the leading mutual marine insurance company West of England and former president of the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO).