BERLIN, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- German chancellor candidate Angela Merkel has named Heinrich von Pierer, a former Siemens CEO, as her top economic adviser.
The German daily Bild Monday reported the move, citing top sources at the top of the Christian Democratic Union leadership.
Merkel and colleagues on Sunday gathered in Dortmund to give their campaign a final push at the CDU/CSU's party congress. Von Pierer is chosen to head a group of ten economic experts, called "Advisory Board for Innovation and Growth," the newspaper said.
The committee's job is to find ways to initiate growth in the world's third-largest economy, which has struggled in recent years.
The group would be created as soon as Merkel takes office, if elected in the federal elections on Sept. 18.
Despite the CDU/CSU's poll lead has narrowed in recent weeks, the Merkel-party is still favored to become the strongest party.
Von Pierer, 64, is the second prominent non-politician to enter the CDU's top ranks, after Paul Kirchhof, a fiscal expert, was named the party's next possible finance minister. Von Pierer currently heads the advisory board of Siemens, Germany's largest private employer.
