Commitment

Any company wishing to respond innovatively and flexibly to the economic challenges of the future must also address the social and cultural issues of the society in which it operates. That is why we also take on responsibility in areas beyond our direct fields of business. In this we are guided by criteria based on the Group's understanding of value and responsibility.

ThyssenKrupp regards itself as a responsible corporate citizen and brings its efforts to bear in a variety of areas. In the year under review, many of our efforts were channeled into providing aid to victims of natural disasters in various parts of the world. We provide recurring structural support to regions in which the Group operates. Some public tasks can be better accomplished with direct private involvement. In many such cases, the Group supports culture, education, sport and innovation and promotes social, charitable and humanitarian activities.

We mainly support initiatives and projects aimed at strengthening regions with which the Group has traditional links or where we have business operations. For instance, for many years we have been providing moral and financial support to the Initiativkreis Ruhrgebiet, a body which is dedicated to promoting the interests of the Ruhr and provides important impetus for the now well-advanced structural transformation of this traditional industrial region. Each year we sponsor a stand-out concert event as part of the Ruhr Piano Festival created by Initiativkreis Ruhrgebiet.

Art and culture are traditional areas of support. In times where public funds are in increasingly short supply, this helps bring attractive events to areas close to ThyssenKrupp's major locations, which also benefits the Group's employees. For example, we support the philharmonic orchestras in Essen and Duisburg, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein opera company and the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus theater. We also provided major funding to the Lehmbruck Museum in Duisburg and gave our support to the World Youth Day 2005.

We also promote sport, mainly in the form of selected competitions and sports clubs close to our locations. We were one of the main sponsors of the 2005 World Games, an outstanding international event for non-Olympic sports staged in Duisburg. Other examples of traditional Group support include the annual Rhine-Ruhr Marathon and the international rowing regatta in Duisburg.

Intensive collaboration with partner universities

We have developed close contacts with our partner universities, which include the renowned Chinese Tongji University in Shanghai. Key elements of this bridge between academia and industry are cooperation in teaching and research, an exchange of experience and support for research projects. We are pleased to provide business know-how wherever it can be transferred to the university environment. Under partnership agreements with various universities, we also fund study support programs and provide internships and dissertation placements. More information on our support for students can be found in "Universities and graduates". In addition we sponsor numerous schools.

Education to secure the future

In addition to collaborating with our partner universities, ThyssenKrupp also finances individual university chairs and supports numerous sponsoring organizations. For example, ThyssenKrupp is a longstanding member of Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft, a funding association via which we provide targeted sponsorship for academic projects.

Substantial funding is provided to two initiatives launched in Germany to promote a new culture of innovation and facilitate knowledge sharing. We are involved in the government initiative "Partners for Innovation", which brings together representatives from industry, science, society and government to design an agenda for innovation and set out recommendations for action. We also support the "Knowledge Factory" initiative launched as an open platform to allow companies to impart knowledge to young people and share know-how with young entrepreneurs.

The Group also offers its employees a broad range of training and education opportunities. In Germany alone, on average one in two members of the workforce attended a training program in 2004/2005. We attach great importance to such measures. In addition, we have been providing apprenticeship training for young people beyond our own needs for many years. Our aim is to give as many young people as possible a sound start to their working lives, which we regard as part of our responsibility to society. More information on Personnel and Social Policy at ThyssenKrupp can be found in "People at ThyssenKrupp".

Help in emergencies

Several natural disasters in the past year called for strong solidarity to be shown with the people in the affected regions. ThyssenKrupp's efforts focused on donations and assistance for victims of the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina in the USA. Our support was channeled in particular into projects and funds aimed at rebuilding and developing affected areas with links to the Group. These included the reconstruction of four medical centers in India, support for small farmers and fishers, and intensive measures to help care for children. In Thailand we provided support for the construction of two new schools with psychological counseling for children, as well as the establishment of a Memorial Park. Further social, charitable and humanitarian initiatives are being funded on a smaller scale in other areas.

Networking and knowledge sharing

The accelerated pace of technical development in an increasingly networked world requires active and constructive participation in initiatives that act as catalysts between government, business and science. ThyssenKrupp is a member of numerous organizations and associations which promote an exchange of views on economic and technical subjects and also address socially relevant issues. For example, we are a member of the BDI Forum for Sustainable Development (econsense). We have also provided support for many years to acatech, the council for engineering sciences run by the Union of German Academies of Science and Humanities. acatech promotes dialogue on forward-looking technologies and their significance for sustainable growth and aims to intensify exchanges between science, business, government and society.