Wirtschaftsressort

English translation: Ministry of Economic Affairs

16:07 Dec 18, 2014

German to English translations [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Economics

German term or phrase: Wirtschaftsressort

Can anyone give me a good English equivalent of this term? It seems (to me anyway, and I admit that I am no business expert) to be a vague, catch-all term and I've seen suggestions such as "economics portfolio" (which also seems pretty vague to me), "economics department" (which seems just the opposite, i.e., very specific), and "policy", which to me doesn't seem to cover all of it. Duden explains it as the area of jurisdiction of a ministry of economics or similar government agency. The best I can come up with is economics or business sector but I'm not sure that covers it either. And "bailiwick" sounds too colloquial.

John Speese KudoZ activity Questions: 630 (3 open) (14 without valid answers) (30 closed without grading) Answers: 386 United States
Local time: 13:36

English translation:Ministry of Economic Affairs

Explanation:
The asker's terminological problem is from an Austrian website. In Austria the term "Ressort" refers to a ministry of a federal Austrian state. For example "Ressort für Wirtschaft, Europa und Kultur des Landes Steiermark". In Germany this would be "Ministry". For example "Bayrisches Staatsministerium für Wirtschaft und Medien, Energie und Technologie".

Selected response from:

Maria S. Loose, LL.M.
Belgium
Local time: 19:36

Grading comment

Thank you, Maria. I used this, the way you worded it.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +1

Ministry of Economic Affairs

Maria S. Loose, LL.M.

3 +1

Wirtschaftsministerium (country)/Wirtschaftsbehörde (city)

EK Yokohama

Ministry for Economic Affairs (country)

EK Yokohama

Department for Business

Edgar Bettridge

Ministry of Economy

Jacek Kloskowski

Discussion entries: 10

EK Yokohama

Japan

"Wirtschaftsredaktion" in bestimmten Kontexten

06:31 Dec 19, 2014

Hans-Jochen surely has a point here. Thank you for this contribution.

Jacek Kloskowski

United States

@Andrew,

22:54 Dec 18, 2014

you mean, "the (particular) economy", I see my mistake now, than you for the explanation.

If you'd be so kind, why then "finance" doesn't behave the same way (unless I am wrong here too :)) - usually I see "Ministry of Finance" "Department of Finance" (no definite article?)

Lancashireman

United Kingdom

JackMark

22:34 Dec 18, 2014

Definition of economy in English:
NOUN (plural economies)
1 The state of a country or region in terms of the production and consumption of goods and services and the supply of money: he favours tax cuts to stimulate the economy
2 [MASS NOUN] Careful management of available resources: fuel economy
2.3 [COUNT NOUN] (usually economies) A financial saving:there were many economies to be made by giving up our London offices
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/economy

Maria S. Loose, LL.M.

Belgium

Austria

17:22 Dec 18, 2014

Hi John,
having googled your phrase I saw that it is from an Austrian website. In Austria "Wirtschaftsressort" refers to the Ministry for Economic Affairs of an Austrian federal state. For example "Ressort für Wirtschaft, Europa und Kultur des Landes Niederösterreich". In Germany this would be called "Bayrisches Staatsministerium für Wirtschaft und Medien...", if the federal German state of Bavaria is concerned.

Maria S. Loose, LL.M.

Belgium

Ministry for Economic Affairs

16:57 Dec 18, 2014

In this context, "Ressort" is used as an equivalent for "Ministerium". Geschäftsbereiche = departments

John Speese

United States

ASKER

Here is additional context:

16:52 Dec 18, 2014

Die Wirtschaftsstrategie des Landes XX dient als Grundlage für die Aktivitäten und Maßnahmen der Geschäftsbereiche des Wirtschaftsressorts des Landes.

Das Wirtschaftsressort sucht zukünftig bewusst nach neuen Chancen und Möglichkeiten für Unternehmen und setzt aktiv Impulse und Akzente durch zukunftsweisende Pilotprojekte und Programme.

Um eine effiziente Umsetzung der Strategie zu gewährleisten, wird die strategische Ausrichtung mit einer Reihe von Zielvorgaben und Leitprojekten auf die einzelnen Geschäftsbereiche des Wirtschaftsressorts übertragen und die Erreichung der Zielsetzungen mittels eines entsprechenden Steuerungssystems laufend überprüft.

Hans-Jochen Trost

United States

16:31 Dec 18, 2014

At newspapers the word is in use, too; a German synonym is Wirtschaftsredaktion. The American equivalent would be something like the economics (news) department or business/finance (news) department:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ressort
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper#Organization_and_pers...

Maria S. Loose, LL.M.

Belgium

16:22 Dec 18, 2014

"Managing a Commission of 28 members is difficult, especially when it has in effect been a two-tier body where major portfolios go to the big western European states while the newer eastern European nations are handed the leftovers". Extract from a Financial Times article dated September 11, 2014, about the new Juncker Commission. In this context portfolio would translate into German as "Ressort". So "Wirtschaftsressort" would be something like "portfolio for economic affairs"

Maria S. Loose, LL.M.

Belgium

More context needed

16:11 Dec 18, 2014

If it's referring to a government minister it's usually "portfolio".

philgoddard

United States

16:11 Dec 18, 2014

You forgot to include the context!

Answers

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

Ministry of Economic Affairs

Maria S. Loose, LL.M.
Belgium
Local time: 19:36
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English,

German
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

Thank you, Maria. I used this, the way you worded it.

26 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

Wirtschaftsministerium (country)/Wirtschaftsbehörde (city)

Explanation:
This is the term for the economic department/portfolio of an executive body (e.g. of a city, state, country) and its translation will be different depending to the entity to which it refers (e.g. for a country it will be the Ministry for Economic Affairs).

So without context we will not be able to answer your question.
Bedeutung:
1. den Bereich der Wirtschaft umfassendes Ressort (besonders als Zuständigkeitsbereich des Wirtschaftsministeriums)
2. Behörde, die ein Wirtschaftsressort verwaltet; Wirtschaftsministerium

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Note added at 28 mins (2014-12-18 16:35:43 GMT)
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http://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Wirtschaftsressort

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Note added at 1 hr (2014-12-18 17:55:33 GMT)
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OK, I was really in a hurry and made a mistake by not writing the English equivalents. Will post a new answer asap.

Reference: http://www.bmwi.de/EN/root.html
Reference: http://www.hamburg.de/bwvi/

EK Yokohama
Japan
Works in field
Native speaker of:

German

2 hrs confidence:

Ministry for Economic Affairs (country)

Explanation:
This is the term for the economic department/portfolio of an executive body (e.g. of a city, state, country) and its translation will be different depending to the entity to which it refers (e.g. for a country like the FRG it will be the Ministry for Economic Affairs).

Reference: http://www.bmwi.de/EN/root.html

EK Yokohama
Japan
Works in field
Native speaker of:

German

5 hrs confidence:

Ministry of Economy

Explanation:
in some countries

Jacek Kloskowski
United States
Local time: 13:36
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Polish,

English

3 days 18 hrs confidence:

Department for Business

Explanation:
Just offering this as an alternative. Yes, you would expect to use Ministry for a country, but this does not apply in all cases. Just look at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the DWP in the UK or the State Department in the US.

Edgar Bettridge
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:36
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4

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English translation: Ministry of Economic Affairs

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