Schwarzenegger, this year's guest of honour at the sprawling CeBIT fair in this northern German city, toured stands with Chancellor Angela Merkel as the six-day event opened under a cloud of financial gloom.

Dropping by IBM's giant space, Schwarzenegger said that as the information technology sector's carbon footprint grows larger by the year, now was the time to promote more energy efficiency to cut costs as well as reduce emissions.

"The only way we can move forward is not just with the will but with the technology," the Austrian-born governor said, adding it was up to industry innovators to lead the way.

California is the honorary guest at this year's CeBIT and Schwarzenegger has come to the fair with around 50 firms from his state, most from ailing Silicon Valley.

The German press had hoped the "Governator" would give the event a shot in the arm.

Some 4,300 firms from 69 countries are displaying the latest netbooks, handsets, navigators and software solutions at the fair -- a quarter fewer than last year due to the global economic slump.

That contrasts with the more than 8,000 exhibitors that attended in 2001 in the heyday of the "new economy." Organisers said small hardware and telecommunications suppliers from China, Taiwan and South Korea had pulled out in droves.

Hot topics at this year's fair include "green" gadgets, "e-health" using the Internet to revolutionise patient care, electronic books and "cloud computing", an efficiency tool in which applications or data are stored online instead of being installed and maintained on users' machines.

Schwarzenegger's message fit with another key theme at the show: using the global economic meltdown as a chance to promote cost-saving, energy-efficient products and harness technology for long-term business restructuring.

Giant signs on the sides of the fairground buildings show the word "crisis" crossed out, replaced with the word "opportunity".

Environmental pressure group Greenpeace launched an "IT Climate Leadership Challenge" at the fair calling on high-tech sector executives to "turn climate change into a business opportunity".

The group sent a letter to the CEOs of companies including Cisco, Dell, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Nokia, Sony, Toshiba, Fujitsu and Sharp urging the firms to slash their own emissions and throw their weight behind an international climate pact at a UN meeting in Copenhagen in December.

"Companies that take the lead in this challenge will see a massive increase in their market share as top-line support for a strong climate deal can only be good for the bottom line of the ICT industry," Greenpeace campaigner Tom Dowdall said.

While in Hanover, Schwarzenegger also picked up an award from the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany for "his exceptional commitment to the global issues of environment and energy" in California.

At a CeBIT opening ceremony, Merkel joined Schwarzenegger in urging executives to develop better "green" technology and states to improve high-tech infrastructure.

"I think there is such a thing as truly safe investments in the future," Merkel said citing innovation in information and communications technology.

Germany's technology industry lobby, BITKOM, said Monday that it expected to weather the downturn relatively unscathed with turnover to hold steady at about 145 billion euros (183 billion dollars), thanks in part to new public investment in broadband networks and school computers.

The CeBIT runs until Sunday.

earlier related report
Schwarzenegger pumps up world's biggest tech fair
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger kicked off the world's biggest high-tech fair Tuesday after telling crisis-hit executives to stop their "whining" and invest in the future.

Schwarzenegger, this year's guest of honour at the sprawling CeBIT fair in this northern German city, toured stands with Chancellor Angela Merkel as the six-day event opened under a cloud of economic gloom.

In a rollicking speech late Monday to kick off the industry's largest gathering, Schwarzenegger drew on references from his career as a bodybuilder, actor and entrepreneur to pump up his recession-knocked audience.

"We are gathering in challenging times. Some may say this is the wrong time for a big trade show like this but they are wrong," the Austrian-born Schwarzenegger said.

"Losers whine but winners move forward in a strong and powerful way and I know that everyone who is here at the CeBIT is a winner!"

Speaking in English then his strong regional German dialect, Schwarzenegger said he was pleased to be back in the country where he got his start as a bodybuilder and looked forward to enjoying some "German beer and German food" again while in town.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I would come back to Germany as governor of the great state of California," he said.

In a nod to his state's budget woes, he noted the CeBIT's reputation as a major business generator and smiled: "I wish I had some of that money."

The notoriously chivalrous Schwarzenegger singled out Merkel, Germany's first female chancellor and Forbes magazine's most powerful woman in the world, for special praise.

"What an inspirational leader she is," he said, noting that she now even had a Barbie doll made in her image.

"That's really a sign you've arrived," he joked.

And he brought the house down at the end of his speech with a "Terminator" adieu: "I'll be back. Hasta la vista, baby."

Merkel, who is facing Germany's worst postwar recession and a general election in six months' time, thanked Schwarzenegger for bringing "a little American spirit" to the northern city of Hanover.

She urged high-tech business leaders to seize the opportunities presented by the crisis, joining Schwarzenegger in a call for more "green", energy-efficient technology.

"I think there is such a thing as truly safe investments in the future," Merkel said.

"For me they are in the area of information and communications technology, for example," noting that she had earmarked millions for expansion of broadband Internet networks and more computers for schools in two recent economic stimulus packages.

While in Hanover, Schwarzenegger will also pick up an award from the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany for "his exceptional commitment to the global issues of environment and energy".

California is the honorary guest at this year's CeBIT and Schwarzenegger has come to the CeBIT with around 50 firms from California, most from ailing Silicon Valley.

The German press had hoped the "Governator" would give the event a shot in the arm this year.

Some 4,300 firms from 69 countries are displaying the latest gadgets and IT innovations at the fair -- a quarter fewer than last year due to the global economic slump.

That contrasts with the more than 8,000 exhibitors that attended in 2001 during the "new economy" heyday.

Nevertheless, Germany's high-tech industry said Monday that it expected to weather the downturn relatively unscathed.

Turnover in information technology, telecommunications and digital consumer electronics will hold steady at about 145 billion euros (183 billion dollars), the BITKOM industrial lobby.

Hot topics at this year's fair are expected to be reducing the high-tech industry's carbon footprint, "e-health" using the Internet to revolutionise health care and the rise of ultra-thin netbooks and electronic books.

The CeBIT runs until Sunday.

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