Ivanka Trump hears groans as she defends father in Berlin

Daughter of US President Ivanka Trump, Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attend the W20 Summit under the motto "Inspiring women: scaling up women's entrepreneurship" in Berlin, Germany, April 25, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

During Merkel's visit to Washington in March, she organized a discussion with the German leader, her father, and US and German executives about how companies can better train workers.

On Tuesday's panel, she applauded a suggestion for a special fund to be created to help female entrepreneurs secure international funding, adding that more needs to be done to help in the US

"We are not where we need to be," she said.

Later, Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser gave Trump a tour of a Berlin training center run by the German industrial conglomerate. Germany is proud of its vocational training system, and Trump has said she hopes to learn from German successes.

Siemens said it has some 12,000 young people worldwide, including 9,000 in Germany, in programs that combine study with practical training.