Bavaria’s state economic minister told a crowd of more than 100 local businessmen and academics gathered in the Faculty Club last night that California and Bavaria should work together to develop the alternative energies of the future.

“If we can succeed in networking our technological skills even more effectively, this can only be to our advantage,” said the minister, Erwin Huber. “We will make our energy supply more sustainable. We will make our companies strong for facing up to the new competitors in India and China. We will secure promising jobs.”

An hour-and-a-half panel discussion with eight business leaders last night was the highlight of Huber’s two-day swing through the Bay Area. The minister talked with Bavarian and American businesspersons about greater technological exchanges and about supporting more “green” technologies.

Bavaria, Germany’s largest and southernmost state, is home to Bavarian Motor Works — better known as BMW. The company has developed a prototype of its yet-to-be-released Hydrogen 7 model, a car that company spokesmen said will revolutionize hybrid vehicles. For almost two hours before the panel began, attendees could test drive the car in the area around Tresidder Union.

John Geesman, the commissioner of the California Energy Commission, said that America is playing “catch up” with Bavaria on clean energy. He said that good tax incentives and regulatory polices are conducive to alternative fuels.

“They’ve perfected a linkage between their energy system and economy,” Geesman told The Daily. “They’ve got some excellent ideas.”

The region, which is not endowed with natural energy reserves, developed nuclear power during the Cold War. According to Huber, 83 percent of Bavaria’s electricity supply is produced without carbon dioxide.

“Research is very expensive,” Huber said in an interview before the event. “To make networks in research that make exchanges of experience and technology is useful for both of us.”

After the talk, the minister rushed to make a late flight to Washington, D.C., where he has meetings today. But most visitors — many speaking in German — sipped on German beer and talked about the relationship between the two regions.