MAINZ (dpa-AFX) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Rhineland-Palatinate Premier Malu Dreyer (both SPD) say the chemical industry plays a central role in the basic supply and restructuring of the German economy. "We will ensure that there is a very special format where we talk about the future of the chemical industry," Scholz announced Tuesday in Mainz after talks with top representatives and

-representatives of the industry. Dreyer emphasized the importance of the

chemical industry, which employs around 70,000 people, to the economy of Rhineland-Palatinate. She said that the aim was to develop new forms of cooperation between politics and industry and joint approaches to solutions.

The meeting at the State Chancellery marked the end of Scholz's visit to Rhineland-Palatinate. On Monday evening, at a ceremony celebrating 75 years of the SPD in Rhineland-Palatinate, he had presented the Mainz state government as a model for the traffic light system in the federal government. He did not comment on a successor for the resigned Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) in either of the two public appearances./mba/DP/jha