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Germany

Page history last edited by Brian D Butler 13 years, 3 months ago

 

 

Germany

see also European Union

 

Table of Contents:


 

 

 

 

 

 

Germany's Economy

 

world's leading exporter (surprised its not China?).  In Germany, one in three jobs relies on foreign sales

 

Germany, the world's third largest economy produces more than one quarter of the European Union's gross domestic product. And with the second highest rate of investment among the world's seven leading economies, Germany is on course to sustain this position of economic strength in the decades to come.

 

Germany has a population of 82 million, larger than any other country in the European Union. Borders on nine countries mean that the rest of Europe's major markets are within easy reach thanks to high speed rail and road grids. The airport at Frankfurt is continental Europe's largest with links to all major global destinations.

 

The states of the former East Germany are enjoying particularly high levels of investment thanks to a wide array of incentives and a highly skilled, technical workforce. Parts of Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony and Thueringen are emerging with strong clusters of new economy activity.

 

The eastern states have a dedicated investment agency - Industrial Investment Council. See www.iic.de

 

In terms of online connections, no other country in Europe has so many computers linked to the world's data communication grid. Transporting the bits and bytes throughout the country and to the rest of the world is a national network of glass-fiber and ISDN links.

 

The country is also concentrating on new sectors such as information and communication technologies, environmental technologies, laser and plasma-based systems, microsystems, and biotechnology.

 

Germany has always invested heavily in its systems of education. The country's large stock of high-achievers represents its most important resource.

 

 

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Mr Hans-Leopold von Winterfeld

Office of the Commissioner for For Inv in Germany

Markgrafenstrasse 34

Berlin, 10117 Germany

tel:   +49 (0) 30 2 06 570 

fax: +49 (0) 30 2 06 57 111

 

 

 

 

History, War, Europe

 

"after World War II, Germany was split into two countries with different economic and political systems. But they were the same people, with the same language and culture, separated by a wall. We know how that story ended." [1]

 

"European history has been the chronicle of other European powers struggling to constrain Germany, particularly since German unification in 1871. The problem has always been geopolitical. Germany lies on the North European Plain, with France to its west and Russia to its east. If both were to attack at the same time, Germany would collapse. German strategy in 1871, 1914 and 1939 called for pre-emptive strikes on France to prevent a two-front war. (The last two attempts failed disastrously, of course.)... European strategy after World War II involved reshaping the regional dynamic so that Germany would never face this problem again and so would never need to be a military power again. Germany's military policy was subordinated to NATO and its economic policy to the European Economic Community (the forerunner of today's European Union). NATO solved Germany's short-run problem, while the European Union was seen as solving its long-run problem. For the Europeans-including the Germans-these structures represented the best of both worlds. They harnessed German capital and economic dynamism, submerged Germany into a larger economic entity, gave the Germans what they needed economically so they didn't have to seek it militarily, and ensured that the Germans had no reason-or ability-to strike out on their own."  Source Stratfor.com.  Read more here

 

 

Europe, Euro, Exports + German Economy

 

The German "economy is hugely dependent on exports for demand (see chart). From 2000 to 2008 external demand generated as much as two-thirds of the growth in overall demand for German output. Germany needs both captive markets and a competitive exchange rate. The eurozone has delivered both, to an inordinate degree: the crisis in the periphery has dragged down the value of the euro; and many of Germany’s eurozone partners (who absorb two-fifths of its exports – nine times as much as China) are uncompetitive, after a decade of rising relative costs.   More important, imagine what would have happened, in the absence of the euro. The exchange rate of the D-Mark would have exploded upwards, as currency crises savaged the European economy, as happened in the 1990s. In peripheral Europe, currency depreciations would have been at least as big as, if not bigger than, sterling’s. The absence of such shocks has greatly enhanced the prospects for the German recovery. The creation of the eurozone was, for this reason alone, much more than a favour Germany did for its partners. It was also a big economic (not to mention political) gain for Germany.  read more from FT.com

 

Critical View: "In essence, European states are borrowing money (mostly from Germany) in order to purchase imported goods (mostly from Germany) because their own workers cannot compete on price (mostly because of Germany)."  Source: Stratfor.com, read more here

 

 

Macro Economic Position

 

2010 update:  Germany is less affected by global  deleveraging because: "healthy household and corporate balance sheets, which are subject to less deleveraging pressure than those of other economies.

 

 

 

 

Austerity 2010:

 

"The German government has proposed plans to cut the budget deficit by a record 80bn euros ($96bn; £66bn), or 3% of GDP, by 2014. The total deficit in 2009 was 3.1%, but is projected to grow to more than 5% this year.  "Germany has an outstanding chance to set a good example," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

 

The plans include a cut in subsidies to parents, 10,000 government job cuts over four years, and higher taxes on nuclear power. The rebuilding of the baroque Stadtschloss palace in the heart of Berlin will also be postponed."  read more here:  BBC.com

 

 

 

 

credit crisis 2007-09 

Owing to its relatively strong exposure to the global industrial cycle, Germany was hit particularly hard by the collapse in global trade after the default of Lehman. GDP declined by 5%, more than in most Euro-zone countries.

 

 

 

Fiscal stimulus :

If external demand decreases, the hope is that Germany can make up for that by increasing local demand....and keep industry moving. 

 

News:  - Jan 11th, 2008 : Merkel's Coalition Agrees on Second, $66 Billion Economic Stimulus Package Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition agreed to spend an extra 50 billion euros ($66 billion) this year and next and backed a fund to guarantee loans to companies, seeking to stem Germany’s worst recession since World War II....bring Germany’s fiscal stimulus to 80.3 billion euros over two years, the Finance Ministry said. At about 1.6 percent of gross domestic product, that’s the biggest stimulus program in Europe, underscoring Merkel’s election-year shift away from a focus on eliminating the budget deficit.

 

 

Rebalancing the world economy

The one area where change is needed is the weakness of consumption, which has been broadly flat for ten years now. A re-balancing of the Euro-zone will only work once German domestic demand develops more in line with overall growth and the trade surplus with other European countries is reduced. Tax cuts and a strong labour market—the unemployment rate has barely moved so far—suggest that consumption will indeed become more lively. Although further tax cuts would be welcome, they would be difficult to put in place in the current environment.

 

 

Germany and imbalances

 

global imbalances (finance)

 

 

 

 

 

Geo-Politics

 

History:

 

"European history has been the chronicle of other European powers struggling to constrain Germany, particularly since German unification in 1871. The problem has always been geopolitical. Germany lies on the North European Plain, with France to its west and Russia to its east. If both were to attack at the same time, Germany would collapse. German strategy in 1871, 1914 and 1939 called for pre-emptive strikes on France to prevent a two-front war. (The last two attempts failed disastrously, of course.)"... after WWII, "Germany’s military policy was subordinated to NATO and its economic policy to the European Economic Community (the forerunner of today’s European Union). NATO solved Germany’s short-run problem, while the European Union was seen as solving its long-run problem."...Read more: Germany: Mitteleuropa Redux | STRATFOR 

 

Oil & Energy:

 

  • see our page on Turkey
  • "German, energy dependence on Russia, and was told that Germany only imports 30 percent of its energy from Russia. I had thought it was 45 percent, but still, I see 30 percent as a huge dependence. Cut that percentage off and the German economy becomes unsustainable. And that gives Russia a great deal of power. And while Russia needs the revenues from energy, it can stand a cut in revenues a lot longer than Germany and Europe can stand an energy cutoff." ... Read more: Geopolitical Journey, Part 7: Poland | STRATFOR  

 

 

 

Germany, Russia & Nato:

 

Over the past year or so, Germany has become somewhat estranged from the United States. Dependent on Russian energy, Germany has been unwilling to confront Russia on issues of concern to Washington. Merkel has made it particularly clear that while she does not oppose NATO expansion in principle, she certainly opposes expansion to states that Russian considers deeply within its sphere of influence (primarily Georgia and Ukraine). The Germans have made it abundantly clear that they do not want to see European-Russian relations deteriorate under U.S. prodding. Moreover, Germany has no appetite for continuing its presence in Afghanistan, let alone increasing it.

 

"NATO faces a substantial split, conditioned partly by Germany’s dependence on Russian energy, but also by deep German unease about any possible resumption of a Cold War with Russia, however mild. The foundation of NATO during the Cold War was the U.S.-German-British relationship. With the Germans unwilling to align with the United States and other NATO members over Russia or Afghanistan, it is unclear whether NATO can continue to function. (Certainly, Merkel cannot be pleased that the United States has not laid the BMD issue in Poland and the Czech Republic to rest.)

 

"As for Germany, NATO was an instrument of rehabilitation and stability after World War II. But Germany now has a complex relationship with Russia, as well as internal issues. It does not want NATO drawing it into adventures that are not in Germany’s primary interest, much less into a confrontation with Russia. No amount of charm, openness or dialogue is going to change this fundamental reality."   source:  www.stratfor.com 

read more here

 

 

 

 

Russia, France + Germany - history

 

"At the same time, a German-Russian alignment is a security issue as well as an economic issue. Between 1871 and 1941 there was a three-player game in continental Europe-France, Germany and Russia. The three shifted alliances with each other, with each shift increasing the chance of war. In 1871, Prussia was allied with Russia when it attacked France. In 1914, The French and Russians were allied against Germany. In 1940, Germany was allied with Russia when it attacked France. The three-player game played itself out in various ways with a constant outcome: war.....For Paris, partnership with Germany is the foundation of France's security policy and economy. If Germany moves into a close security and economic relationship with Russia, France must calculate the effect this will have on France. There has never been a time when a tripartite alliance of France, Germany and Russia has worked because it has always left France as the junior partner. Therefore, it is vital for the Germans to present this not as a three-way relationship but as the inclusion of Russia into Europe, and to focus on security measures rather than economic measures. Nevertheless, the Germans have to be enormously careful in managing their relationship with France."  source:  www.stratfor.com read more here

 

German Strategy

 

"The Germans do not want to lose the European concept. At the same time, they are trying to redefine it more to their advantage. From the German point of view, bringing Russia into the relationship would help achieve this. But the Germans still have to explain what their relationship is with the rest of Europe, particularly their financial obligation to troubled economies in the eurozone. They also have to define their relationship to NATO, and more important, to the United States."  source:  www.stratfor.com read more here

 

 

 

Places in Germany

 

 

Baden-Wurttemberg

Baden-Wurttemberg is a region in the Southwest part of Germany. It is in a central location with excellent transport and business links to the rest of the continent. The four administrative districts are Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Freiburg and Tübingen. The biggest cities are Stuttgart, with just under 600,000 inhabitants, Mannheim with 295,000, Karlsruhe with 260,000 and Freiburg with 178,000.

 

There are five major clusters in the region – mobility, healthcare, environmental technology, TIME (telecoms, IT, media, electronics) and industrial process technology.

 

More than 30% of German institutes for applied research are located in the State and a number of them specialize in the main cluster areas, such as the Hahn-Schickard Society for Micro-technology and IT (IMIT) and the Karlsruhe research center, which, with a staff of 3,750 is one of the largest research centers in the world.

 

The State also supports a number of industry programs including the content medi@ initiative to strengthen content and applications in the region and the NETmedi@ to expand the network infrastructure. These state sponsored programs are particularly relevant in the biotechnology sector, where 4 regions within Baden-Wurttemberg have been designated as areas which focus specifically on biotechnology and genetic engineering. They are BioRegion Freiburg, BioRegion Rhein-Neckar-Dreieck, BioTechnologie Ulm and BioRegio Stuttgart. Across these areas, there are more than 78 biotechnology companies; more than in any other German State.

 

Companies that have been attracted to Baden-Wurttemberg include ITT Cannon, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Alcatel, Daimler-Benz, Bosch and Porsche. The worldwide headquarters of the software company, SAP is also located in the region.

 

 

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Mr Thomas Hofmann

GWZ

Willi-Bleicher Strasse 19

Stuttgart

70174

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 711 227 870

fax: +49 (0) 711 227 8772

 

Mannheim

Mannheim is located in the Baden-Wurttemberg region in Germany. Proximity to Frankfurt and Stuttgart airports ensures access to overseas destinations.

Major companies in the region include Daimler-Chrysler, ABB, Roche Diagnostics, Deere & Company and Siemens.

 

The University in Mannheim has a population of around 12,000 students and offers courses in high-technology areas such as microelectronics and biotechnology. There are also a number of private and public research institutes specializing in these areas

 

 

Freiburg

Freiburg is located in the Baden-Wurttemberg region in South Germany. Near to both the French and Swiss borders, the closest airport is the EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg.

 

The area is part of the biovalley region which incorporates Strasbourg, Freiburg and Basel. The major driver behind the regions economy are the biotechnology companies located on the specialist bio parks.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Dr Thea Siegenfuhr

Freiburg Development Agency

Rotteckring 14

Freiburg im Breisgau

79098

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 761 3881 826

fax: +49 (0) 761 2020 474

 

 

Stuttgart

Stuttgart is the state capital of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is the economic, cultural, sporting and social hub of a region in the heart of Europe with more than 2.5 million inhabitants.

 

Access to the city is via Stuttgart International Airport, with a road and rail network which connects with other European cities. Drive times to Switzerland, Austria and France are within 2 to 3 hours.

 

The University of Stuttgart plays an important role in the region as a magnet for attracting overseas investors, as does the renowned Max-Planck Institute.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Mr Arndt Siepmann

North America Representative

Stuttgart Region Economic Development Corporation

Stuttgart GmbH

1408 Charing Loop

Auburn

AL 36830

USA

 

 

tel: (313) 731-0114

fax: (313) 731-0114

 

 

 

Karlsruhe

Karlsruhe lies in the south west German state of Baden-Wurttemberg and has more than 275,000 inhabitants.

 

The town's high-tech credentials are impressive: a recent EU survey ranked the top 15 high-tech regions in Europe, of these 10 were in Germany with Karlsruhe being placed second. Karlsruhe can also boast the highest density of researchers in all of Europe.

 

One of the main think tanks is the Fridericiana University, focussing on natural science and technology. Worth mentioning are the so-called "Super Computing Projects" taking place in the faculty of informatics in cooperation with IBM.

 

Highly effective models of technology transfer are developed by major research institutes united in the Karlsruher Informatik Kooperation (KIK or computer data cooperation), in addition at least 12 research institutions have their seat in the Karlsruhe technology region.

 

The city is located at the intersection of two important transport axes and is linked to the high-speed railway network ICE. The public transport system enables passengers to reach their destination in Karlsruhe in a few minutes and to get to Frankfurt International Airport within one hour.

 

Investors in Karlsruhe include for example Siemens, L'Oréal, Pfizer, BW-Bank, Karlsruher Lebensversicherung, Michelin, Bosch, Stora Enso and Fiducia.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Dr. Horst Zajonc

Economic Development Department of Karlsruhe

Karlsruhe

 

 

tel: +49-721-133-7300

fax: +49-721-133-7309

 

 

Bavaria

The state of Bavaria, in southern Germany, is one of Europe’s strongest regions economically. With forward-looking cities such as Munich and Nuremburg, it has developed into what Bill Gates has termed "High-Tech Mecca".

 

As a region, it concentrates on high-tech sectors like electrical engineering, aeronautical technology, medical engineering, biotechnology, information communications technology and environmental research. There is also emphasis on a strong service sector.

 

"Global players" like Dasa-Aerospace, BMW, Audi and Siemens are based in the region as well as numerous new economy companies.

 

Bavaria invests 2.8 % of its gross national product in research and technology, which is above the average of Germany and places Bavaria in the leading group of European regions.

 

There are eleven universities, fifteen polytechnics and a number of large-scale research institutions including the German Aeronautics and Aerospace Center (DLR) and the GSF - National Research Center for Environment and Health.

 

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Dagmar A. Cassan, MBA

Executive Managing Director

State of Bavaria U.S. Office for Economic Development

560 Lexington Avenue

17th Floor

New York

NY 10022

USA

 

 

tel: +1 212-317-0588

fax: +1 212-317-0590

 

Munich

Munich, located in Germany has become a major player in attracting high-tech companies and developing an infrastructure to ensure their commercial success. It is the largest biotechnology center in Germany, the second most important center for banking, a leading location for film and TV production and Germany’s leading information and communications location.

 

Over 5,000 people are employed in Munich’s life sciences sector populated by companies such as Roche Diagnostics, Bayer Diagnostics, Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb and SmithKline-Beecham. Their work is supported by a large number of research institutes such as the Max Planck Institute for biochemistry and psychiatry and the Ludwig Maximilian University’s gene center. For accommodation, the Center of Innovation and New Enterprise in Biotechnology (IZB) is a specialist building offering an infrastructure for young biotechnology companies.

 

As a major media location, Munich has established the Munich Multimedia Academy (MMA) which is a network of multimedia companies and education institutes, designed to establish Munich as an outstanding (inter)national center for training and development. The Academy is due to open in the spring of 2000.

 

In the IT field, over 4,000 companies in and around Munich employ 70,000 people focused on microelectronics, software and hardware. Almost a third of the 25 biggest software companies in Germany are located in the Munich area. Investors include Apple, Compaq/Digital Equipment, Compuserve, Intel, Lotus, Microsoft, Netscape, Oracle, and Texas Instruments.

 

Over 100,000 students are enrolled at Munich's 10 universities and institutes of higher learning.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Dagmar A. Cassan, MBA

Executive Managing Director

State of Bavaria U.S. Office for Economic Development

560 Lexington Avenue

17th Floor

New York

NY 10022

USA

 

 

tel: +1 212-317-0588

fax: +1 212-317-0590

 

 

Nuremburg

Nuremberg is the center of the Northern Bavaria region in Germany. It is in an excellent location for pan European travel, being at the junction of major road and rail networks. Nuremberg airport offers connections to European economic centers and Nuremberg port is the biggest multifunctional freight transport center in Southern Germany.

 

The dominating industry in Nuremberg is electrical engineering. Other sectors are printing, writing utensil manufacture, consumer electronics and automotive electronics.

The communications and multimedia sector is also vital in the city. Employing around 16,000 people, it is the eighth largest location for companies in Europe for companies particularly in the network access and digital transmission fields.

 

Investors in the region include ABB, Akzo Nobel, Alcatel, Bertelsmann, Bosch, DaimlerChrysler, Deutsche Telekom, Electrolux, Ericsson, Novartis, Siemens and Viag. The American company Lucent Technologies operates its international center of excellence for optoelectronics in Nuremberg.

 

The workforce is trained at the Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen and the Georg-Simon-Ohm University of Applied Sciences. A number of research institutes have developed from the university base such as the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits and the Bavarian Research Center for Knowledge-Based Systems.

 

The State of Nuremberg is committed to maintaining the region’s position as a technology center and shows its support through state-sponsored institutes such as the School of Broadcasting Engineering and the Multimedia Academy.

 

 

Erlangen

Erlangen is located in Southern Germany, next to Nuremberg. The region has just over 100,000 inhabitants. Access to other German cities is via the rail system and the motorway network, which connects the region with Frankfurt, Munich and Cologne. Nuremberg Airport is the closest international airport,

The region is an important center for light industry and is home to companies such as Siemens and Pharmacia & Upjohn. The largest research center for power engineering in Europe is located in Erlangen and a number of companies and sub-sectors have grown up around the center, particularly companies operating in the textiles and chemical-pharmaceuticals sectors.

The city is home to the Friedrich-Alexander-University which was founded in 1743 and consists of 11 faculties all located in Erlangen together with the University clinics and the University Library.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Mr Konrad Beugel

Erlangen (Germany)

Stadt Erlangen

Wirtschafts und Frernenverckehrsforderung

Postfach 3160

Erlangen

91051

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 9131 862700

fax: +49 (0) 9131 862524

 

 

 

Berlin

With over 3.4 million inhabitants, Berlin is Germany’s capital and its largest city. Berlin is also a young city: over half of the population is under forty. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, Berlin has become one of the most dynamic business locations in Europe.

 

The city is an attractive site for new high-tech enterprises in medical technology, software, new media, wireless/telecoms, laser technology, bioengineering and genetic engineering.

 

The "Berlin-Brandenburg Metropole" is turning the Berlin region into one of the most modern international telecommunications centers with an extensive fiber optic network.

 

High-growth companies include Siemens, Motorola, IBM, PSI, Deutsche Telekom, T-Nova, Alcatel, Debis and Krone. In the heart of the new Berlin is Sony's new European HQ.

 

Berlin is Germany's biggest university city. Most of the more than 130,000 students undergoing education in Berlin want to stay in the capital, with the result that Berlin has a large and well qualified labor force. Of these students 12,500 are studying IT or new media.

 

With more than 170 technology-oriented research establishments the capital provides an optimum environment for innovative companies. Research institutes include the Heinrich Hertz Institute of Communications Engineering (HHI), Konrad Zuse Centre of Information Technology (ZIB), Deutsche Telekom research arm (TeBerkom) and the Fraunhofer Institute of Software and Systems Engineering (ISST).

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

Dr. Hans Estermann

Berlin Partner GmbH

Business Promotion

Ludwig Erhard Haus

Fasanenstrasse 85

Berlin

10623

Germany

tel: +49 (0) 30 399 80-0

fax: +49 (0) 30 399 80 239

 

 

Fast City - design

Berlin , Germany

Population > 3.4 million

Leading indicator > 14% of Berlin 's population are immigrants, from 180 nations

Fast companies > MTV Europe; IKV++ Technologies; Ronen Kadushin's Open Design

Berlin is broke and unemployment is sky-high--but despite all that, it's turning into the avant-cultural capital of Europe. Talent from all over the world, drawn by reasonable rents, acres of studio space, and a rebellious, daring spirit, is fueling a red-hot design, fashion, and architecture scene, while world-class research centers spin off technology startups.

 

 

 

 

Rebranding Berlin

 

In search of the 1920s

Jul 19th 2007 | BERLIN

From The Economist print edition

 

A capital that is short of prosperous people

 

 

TO ANYONE driving through Berlin's empty streets, this capital of 3.4m seems a backwater. Klaus Wowereit, its Social Democratic mayor, wants to improve Berlin's “poor but sexy” image. On the back of last year's World Cup, he would like to promote it as a glamorous metropolis reminiscent of its 1920s heyday. Armed with a two-year €10m ($14m) budget from Berlin's Senate, Mr Wowereit has duly launched his “City of Change” campaign.

 

Selling Berlin as a world city is hard. It has lots of renovated museums, theatres and clubs, plus 400 contemporary-art galleries. Artists, film-makers and some politicians have revived its big-city feel. But whereas London and Paris boast plenty of rich people, Berlin does not. One in two live on a pension or unemployment benefit; even those with jobs earn an average of only €32,600 a year. Well-heeled Germans pay the odd visit, but prefer to live in more opulent places like Munich or Hamburg. Berlin is also saddled with €61 billion of debt.

 

As the largest industrial city in Europe in the early 1900s, Berlin bustled with bankers, entrepreneurs, scientists and inventors. It played host to the invention of nylon, nuclear fission and talking films. Reduced to rubble in 1945, the city was rebuilt and then rebuilt again after unification in 1990. But most industries have long gone. The city lost two-thirds of its remaining manufacturing jobs when cold-war subsidies that propped up both sides ended. The economy is now largely service-based.

 

Like the Big Apple campaign that helped to revive bankrupt New York in the 1970s, Mr Wowereit's initiative, co-ordinated by Berlin Partner, the city's business-development and marketing office, will be aimed at business, investors and tourists. The hope is to capitalise on small signs of renewed confidence shown by economic growth of 1.9% in 2006 (although that is well below the overall German figure of 2.8%).

 

Cheap and easy to get around, Berlin offers rich pickings for foreigners who snap up residential and commercial property. It had 7m visitors last year, making it third in Europe after London and Paris. A delayed €2 billion project to expand Schönefeld airport for wide-bodied jets will be ready by 2011. At least Berlin will have a world-class airport.

 

Poor but sexy

Sep 21st 2006 | BERLIN

From The Economist print edition

 

A fashionable Social Democratic fief needs a stronger economic revival

 

 

DOES politics matter in a city with unemployment of over 17% and a debt of €63 billion ($80 billion)? Klaus Wowereit, Berlin's Social Democratic mayor, jibs at the question. Naturally, he says, politics is not just about spending money—witness his pay cuts for civil servants. Now he has five more years in which to prove his point. In Germany's state elections on September 17th the Christian Democrats did badly, and the Social Democrats lost ground in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania (where the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party, or NPD, won a few seats in the state parliament). But Mr Wowereit did well in Berlin. He may now swap his coalition partner, the Left Party, for the Greens.

 

His big task is to help Berlin avoid the 1990s fate of Washington, DC: of being a bankrupt city with a rich political ghetto. After unification in 1990 Berliners hoped to regain their role of industrial hub and gateway to central Europe. Instead, the city lost two-thirds of its jobs in manufacturing, which now employs fewer than 100,000 in a population of 3.4m. Berlin resembles a glitzy shopping mall with lots of smart boutiques but no anchor tenant.

 

One reason is that “West Berlin was almost as socialist as East Berlin”, says Eric Schweitzer of the local chamber of commerce. During the cold war both halves of the city were heavily subsidised, but the money dried up after unification. The legacy was one of uncompetitive firms, a huge bureaucracy and an ingrained welfare mentality. Heavyweight firms that moved out after 1945, such as Siemens and Deutsche Bank, saw no reason to return. The results are visible as soon as one strays beyond the smart government district around the Brandenburg Gate or the posh neighbourhoods near Kurfürstendamm. Signs of poverty are everywhere. One-third of children in Berlin are poor.

 

Yet a new economy is gradually emerging. Hip Prenzlauer Berg is now home to a bevy of small fashion designers. The banks of the River Spree have become the base for Universal Music, MTV and other media firms. Farther south is Adlershof, a sprawling technology park. “Faster than any other large city in the world, Berlin needed to develop a new economic profile—and it is happening,” says Kurt Geppert of the German Institute for Economic Research, or DIW. Jobs in software, media and advertising are growing fast. Berlin now has a mix of technology, talent and tolerance that attracts skilled people and breeds growth. Spending on R&D is above average, thanks largely to the city's three universities, which also lure foreigners, artists, musicians and others.

 

Indeed, Berlin is now Europe's liveliest city after sunset. Since the glamour of the football World Cup final in July, barely a week has passed without a big event. Twenty-somethings jet in on low-cost airlines for the all-night club scene. There is a relaxed openness not found in straiter-laced European capitals. “It does not take much convincing to get good programmers to relocate here,” notes Ludwig von Reiche, a software manager who is chairman of the Berlin branch of the American Chamber of Commerce. Rents are cheap: a renovated four-bedroomed flat costs as much as a claustrophobic London studio.

 

All of which may make one wonder why Berlin is not booming already. One reason is a lack of entrepreneurial spirit, says Klaus Brake of the Berlin-based Centre for Metropolitan Studies. Almost half of Berliners live on benefits. Mechanisms for turning an idea into a product are underdeveloped; there is no private venture capital, and most firms are conservative. Despite Mr Wowereit's cuts, Berlin is still far from being an efficient state. The city has yet to sell its public-housing agencies. It boasts of offering a one-stop service for investors, but local municipalities have plenty of red tape of their own.

 

At the top, too, there is room for improvement. Mr Wowereit, who is openly gay, is a good face for Berlin; he calls it “poor but sexy”. But “Wowi”, as he is known, is a political operator, not a visionary. Berlin does not always do its best to attract skilled staff. Many foreign teachers, for instance, are denied equal pay, since their credentials are not accepted as of equal worth; this makes it far harder for bilingual schools to retain staff.

 

The challenge for Mr Wowereit is to balance the interests of Berlin's new elite with those of ordinary folk. It will not get any easier, since even Berlin's creative industries are unlikely to create enough jobs for the out-of-work. Despite Mr Wowereit's win, the election in Berlin was also a warning. Turnout hit a low of 58%, and as many as 13.7% voted for splinter parties (including a chunk for the NPD). Even in the capital, it seems, politics still matters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brandenburg

Brandenburg is centrally positioned among the European markets. An ideal transport infrastructure means that all European commercial and urban centers can be reached quickly and cheaply. Berlin, Germany's capital city, and one of Europe's leading financial, economic and cultural centers, is situated in the middle of Brandenburg.

 

Brandenburg will soon boast one of the best infrastructure networks in the world. New six-lane highways, high-speed inter-city railway links, a maglev railway line ("Transrapid"), the new international Berlin/Brandenburg airport and improved waterways are all initiatives currently underway.

 

Brandenburg has an excellent communications system, including overlay networks, digital telephone exchanges, ISDN, ATM, data services and all the registered providers of mobile communication. Data highways are currently being built as part of the "Berlin-Brandenburg Metropole" project, enabling voice, image and data transmission at a higher speed and improved quality.

 

Brandenburg is a major centre for media and film. The Studio Babelsberg Potsdam-Babelsberg has an active film and media industry, the Filmboard Berlin-Brandenburg backs promising projects – ambitious art films and documentaries as well as commercial film – for a variety of specific audiences. The Film and Television Academy (HFF) “Konrad Wolf”. The Academy in Potsdam-Babelsberg is the only art college in the federal state of Brandenburg and the oldest and largest out of five media colleges in Germany. Ten different departments are related to the media industry. The Brandenburg Media Authority is responsible for the admission and monitoring of private radio- and TV-programms.

 

The high-tech sectors actively promoted in the region are communications and the media industry, chemicals, biotechnology, electrical engineering and environmental technology.

 

Investors in the region include Sony Pictures Entertainment, Deutsche Telekom, VIAG Interkom, Samsung, E-Plus Service, Adtranz, Vectron Technologies, Microtech, GED and Aktiv Sensor.

 

Taking Berlin and Brandenburg together, the concentration of research and scientific capacity to be found in the region includes six universities, 21 colleges and more than 300 research institutes.

 

Cities

 

Potsdam

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Dr. Stefan von Senger und Etterlin

International business - strategic planning, Coordination

ZukunftsAgentur Brandenburg

Steinstrasse 104-106

Potsdam

14480

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0)3 31/6 60-30 00

fax: +49 (0)3 31/6 60-38 40

 

 

 

Potsdam

Potsdam is located in the Brandenburg region of Germany, next to Berlin, the capital city. There are close links between domestic areas within Brandenburg and road, rail and air connections offer access to other European locations. Investors in Potsdam can easily travel to the new Berlin-Brandenburg international airport.

 

The workforce in Potsdam is well educated. Around 95 percent of the workforce in the Brandenburg region have received qualified training and 26 percent are university or college graduates. The University of Potsdam is responsible for producing high calibre graduates each year.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Mr Hans Jurgen Wendl

City of Potsdam

Office for Economic support

Hegelallee 6-10

Haus 1

Potsdam

14469

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 331 289 2820

fax: +49 (0) 331 289 2822

 

 

Bremen

Bremen provides excellent transport connections to the European hinterland by rail, road, inland waterways and air, through the Container Terminal at Bremerhaven.

 

Sectors which are heavily promoted in the region include aeronautics and aerospace technology, physical distribution and logistics, electronics and customer communication centers.

 

Every year more than 20,000 students at the University in Bremen and 10,000 students at the polytechnics in Bremen and Bremerhaven provide the skilled workforce for the technology companies based in the region. There are also various scientific institutes which contribute to the global R&D activities of Bremen.

More than 120 of these R&D institutes (including Fraunhofer Institute and Max Plank Institute) are located at the Technology Park Bremen neighbouring the University.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Bremen Business International

Martinistrasse 34

Bremen

28195

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 421 30 888 28

fax: +49 (0) 421 30 888 50

 

 

Eastern Germany

The break up of the Berlin Wall in 1989 signified a new beginning for the Eastern German states. Billions of dollars were spent on modernizing the region’s infrastructure which has resulted in today’s modern highway network and efficient telecommunications system.

Places such as Leipzig, Berlin, Dresden, Saxony, Thuringen and Potsdam have become thriving hot-spots for technology companies; Berlin with its concentration of software companies, Leipzig as one of four designated German biotechnology regions covering research in all sectors of modern biotech and Saxony with its expertise in the semiconductor industry. Each city is enjoying a high tech boom, supported by Universities, specialised research Institutes and technical colleges across the region.

 

The changing mood and commercial environment in Eastern Germany has attracted interest and investment levels from some major corporates such as Schering, Siemens, Motorola, eBay, Sony, Colt, Alcatel, Oracle, EDS, Lobster and Samsung.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Dr Philipp-Christian Wachs

Industrial Investment Council

Charlottenstrasse 57

Berlin

10117

Germany

 

 

tel: + 49(0) 30 20 94 56 60

fax: + 49(0) 30 20 94 56 66

 

 

Hamburg

Hamburg is Germany's second-most populous city after Berlin. It is located in the North of Germany and has developed an international reputation for its impressive high-growth technology industries.

 

Hamburg has taken a leading role in a number of promising sectors; advanced maritime technologies, multimedia, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical technologies, industrial microelectronics, transport technology and aerospace.

 

The growth in the city’s media sector has been astounding, leading to Hamburg’s title as Germany’s media capital. Nearly 50% of service-sector workers are now employed in the media business in publishing houses, advertising and PR agencies, radio and TV stations, film companies and the recently established multimedia and telecommunications service providers. Five of Germany's top six publishing houses have their headquarters in Hamburg and 20 of Germany's biggest advertising agencies.

 

Along with Toulouse in France, Hamburg is the accepted center of Europe's civil aviation industry. This is based on three main strengths; the city’s air traffic (Hamburg Airport), aircraft construction and development (Airbus) and aircraft maintenance (Lufthansa Technik AG).

 

In total over 3,500 international companies have located in Hamburg, including Panasonic, Olympus, Sharp, Omron, Citizen, Hanjin Shipping and Bank of China, Philips, Siemens, Daimler-Benz Aerospace and Bertelsmann.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Mr Stefan Matz

HWF Hamburg Business Development Corporation

Hamburger Strasse 11

Hamburg

22083

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 40 22 70 19 0

fax: +49 (0) 40 22 70 19 29

 

 

 

Hessen

The German state of Hessen is an area stretching northward from the Rhine-Main region and is marked by cities such as Frankfurt and Wiesbaden.

 

The automotive sector is strong with GM's Opel division having its international headquarters in the region and Mercedes with three plants in the state. High tech sectors of note include telecoms, software, medical technology and biotechnology.

 

Renowned telecom hardware companies are manufacturing and servicing their products in the state, including Bosch-Telenorma, Philips, Siemens and Motorola. The region is also home to Hoechst, Merck, Röhm, Abbott and Wella.

 

Corporate R&D is strong in Hessen with 35,000 people in the sector, of which 40 per cent are in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. This dense network of private and public R&D results in a performance above German average and state expenditure on R&D is among the highest in the country.

 

Hessen hosts the Association for Data Processing as well as the Institute for Communications Technology. These institutes are working on the commercialization of their R&D know-how, especially by working together with the Darmstadt based R&D Center of the German Telekom (FTZ), European Space Operation Center (ESOC) and Technical University Darmstadt. The FTZ in Darmstadt acts as a federal R&D center of German Telekom to enhance the use of the ISDN-network for high-speed data transmission.

 

Cities

 

Wiesbaden, Frankfurt

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Mr Rainer Stenzenberger

InvestitionsBank Hessen AG (IBH)

Abraham-Lincoln-Strasse 38-42

Wiesbaden

65189

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 611 774 253

fax: +49 (0) 611 774 385

 

 

Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden is located in the center of the Rhine-Main region of Germany. Wiesbaden is linked up to a dense network of autobahns, the Rhine, Europe’s most important waterway, and to Germany’s biggest regional transportation authority. It is also only 20 minutes away from one of the world’s biggest airports, Rhine-Main.

 

Companies located in the region include ABB Lummus Global, Abbott, Computervision, Daewoo, Dow Corning, Federal-Mogul, Ferrari, Fuji-Machine, Ingersoll-Rand, Kanebo Cosmetics, Matsuura Machinery Motorola and Oxford Instruments.

 

There are a number of technical colleges in the area equipped to train the workforce in skills required by global investors.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Wiesbaden (Germany)

Business & Property Department

Delta Haus

Gustav-Streseman-Ring 1

Wiesbaden

65189

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 611 31 2896

fax: +49 (0) 611 31 3922

 

 

Frankfurt

Frankfurt is at the heart of the dynamic Rhein-Main Region in Germany. The city is Germany's major commercial, financial and transportation hub. Frankfurt Airport is the largest in continental Europe. Every European capital can be reached within three hours and each week over 3,000 flights connect Frankfurt with 276 cities in 114 countries. The Central Railway Station in Frankfurt is also Europe's largest.

 

Frankfurt has a diversified economy ranging from manufacturing and trade to the communications and service industries. A major sector which has attracted inward investors is the financial services sector. More than 400 banks, including the German Central Bank, the European Central Bank and the European representative office of the Asian Development Bank are located in the city. The Frankfurt stock exchange is number one in continental Europe, recently enhanced by its planned merger with the London Stock Exchange. With the implementation of the XETRA, Frankfurt's exchange now operates the most technologically advanced electronic trading system in Europe.

 

Giving recognition to its role in the city, an initiative, “Finanzplatz” was launched to maintain Frankfurt’s pole position in the world of international finance.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Mr Michael Sturm

Frankfurt Economic Development GmbH

Hanauer Landst 182

Frankfurt am Main

60314

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 69 212 36 209

fax: +49 (0) 69 212 36230

 

 

Lower Saxony

Niedersachsen is one of the sixteen states in Germany and is the second largest in size. It borders the Netherlands to the west and seven other states and the City of Hamburg to the east. Hannover is the state capital. International airports are located at Hannover, Bremen and Hamburg, providing access to the continent and worldwide destinations.

 

The economy in Niedersachsen is going through dramatic change as it moves from a still strong industrial base with Volkswagen being the industrial flagship, to a service sector economy. Within the service sector, particular growth has come from credit institutions, insurance companies, legal and management consultancy and tourism and culture operators. The region is home to TUI, Germany’s largest tour operator and Norddeutsche Landesbank, the third largest credit institution in northern Germany.

 

The high quality of school education and the diverse range of job training programs means that investors are able to pull on well qualified people. Around 6,000 graduates enter the job market each year from the region’s 13 universities and 10 technical colleges. There are also more than 80 non-university research facilities.

 

Investors who have chosen to locate in Niedersachsen include CitiBank, Siemens, Solvay Germany Group, MDL METRO Distributions-Logistik, Deutsche Telekom, Sykes, TV Plus and ATENA.

 

Cities

 

Hannover

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Ms Helga Pratap

Saxony Economic Development Corporation

Bertolt-Brecht-Allee 22

Dresden

1309

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 351 3199 10 00

fax: +49 (0) 351 3199 1099

 

Hannover

Hannover is the State Capital of the Lower Saxony region in Germany. With a population of around half a million, the city makes a major contribution to the gross domestic product of Lower Saxony.

 

The city has a major international airport and is the venue of the world’s largest trade fairs. In the surrounding Lower Saxony region there is a strong academic base made up of 13 universities, 12 polytechnic colleges and more than 80 research centers.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Michael Krantz

Greater Hannover Association

Prinzenstrasse 12

Hannover

30159

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 511 3661 0

fax: +49 (0) 511 3661 450

 

 

Mecklenburg

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is located in the North of Germany. The two biggest German cities, Hamburg and Berlin, and 25 million customers in Northern Germany alone can be reached from the region in less than four hours.

 

The region is growing in economic terms as the infrastructure is being transformed to state-of-the-art and the most modern in Europe. German Telekom alone has invested more than DM 4.5 billon since 1990 in updating the telecoms network. Road and railroad networks, sea ports, power stations and airports are also being improved.

 

Cities

 

Vorpommern

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

GFW-MV

Economic Develop Corp

Schlossgartenallee 15

Schwerin

19061

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 3 85 5 92 250

fax: +49 (0) 3 85 5 92 25 22

 

 

Vorpommern

Vorpommern is located in the north-east of Germany, in the middle of the Baltic region. It has an outstanding position on the Baltic and wide inland expanses, which make it an ideal transport and logistics location. There is also easy access to the northern and east European markets with transport links to the major cities of Hamburg and Berlin via railway and a new motorway.

 

Tourism is a large industry in the region and is one of Germany's most popular holiday destinations, with its beautiful wide Baltic beaches, stretching along 1,309 kilometres of coastline, and an inland dotted with lakes, forests and lowland moors, castles and cultural heritage. Vorpommern, like Mecklenburg, has become Germany's holiday paradise number one.

 

Vorpommern offers one of the most modern telecommunication networks in the world, with affordable, spacious commercial locations available and a well-qualified and reasonably priced work force. Furthermore the region provides innovative networking universities, higher education institutions and research and technology centres which specialise in business, science and politics.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

WFG Vorpommern mbH

(Economic Development Corporation)

Brandteichstr. 20

Greifswald

17489

Germany

 

 

tel: 0 38 34 - 55 06 05

fax: 0 38 34 - 55 05 51

 

 

Nordrhein Westfalen

North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) is one of the German states. With Düsseldorf as its capital city, the state is a modern and industrial state and is technology and service oriented.

 

The region has developed into being an important center for insurance, finance, trade fairs and conventions. Services industries, which support the manufacturing process, such as management consultants, advertising and financial services, are constantly expanding.

 

NRW is also becoming a booming "media center". The diversity of the different television stations, with state broadcasters, the teleshopping station QVC and the Music Channels VIVA 1 and VIVA 2, is serving to boost the area into the center of the German television industry.

 

Twenty of Germany´s forty largest companies also have their main offices in the region. Among these are Veba, Deutsche Telekom, RWE, Bayer, Thyssen, Mannesmann, Ford, Krupp-Hoesch, Bertelsmann and Henkel.

 

Europe´s most highly concentrated number of research centers and institutions of higher education have emerged in NRW since the beginning of the 1970s so that the region now belongs to the ten most important areas of scientific innovation in Europe. The state of NRW encourages the most modern technology and intelligent solutions for example, in the areas of environment, energy technology, transportation, telecommunications and medical technology.

 

 

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Mr. Stefan Jungen

Gesellschaft fuer Wirtschaftsfoerderung Nordrhein-Westfalen (Economic Development Corporation)

Kavalleriestr 8-10

Dusseldorf

40213

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 2 111 30 000

fax: +49 (0) 211 13000-154

 

 

Wuppertal

Wuppertal is located in the Nordrhein Westfalen region of Germany and , as a reflection of the region as a whole, is well represented in the manufacturing, commerce, services, research and media sectors. Wuppertal benefits from its proximity to Dusseldorf, the capital of the region, with its associated international airport and universities.

 

Companies located in the wider region include VEBA, RWE, Bayer, Krupp-Thyssen, Ford and Henkel.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Wuppertal (Germany)

Kavallarie Strasse 8-10

Postfach 200309

Dusseldorf

40213

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0)211 13 0000

fax: +49 (0)211 13 000 154

 

 

 

Aachen

Aachen is a city located in the most westerly region of Germany sharing borders with The Netherlands and Belgium. There are direct connections to Paris and London via rail and the nearby Maastricht-Aachen airport offers international flights.

 

The region has demonstrated its expertise and skills in a number of technical areas including automation, IT, traffic and motor technology, laser and environmental technology. As evidence of the city’s capabilities companies such as Ford, Ericsson, Philips, Trumpf Laser and Thyssen Laser have all located private research institutes in the area. Other investors in the region are Mitsubishi Semiconductor, Procter & Gamble, AKZO and Warner Communication and Matsushita.

 

The region has developed 12 technology centers which house companies and provide business services. And more recently, a cross-border technology park has been developed jointly by Aachen and Heerlen in the Netherlands.

 

The Eurode Business Centre, a trans-border centre for service-oriented

companies, opened in July 2001. Located directly on the Dutch-German border, it was developed jointly by the towns of Kerkrade and Herzogenrath and the development agencies AGIT and LIOF.

 

There are four universities in the area including The Technical University of Rhine-Westphalia (RWTH) with 34,450 students in over 60 different fields of study. Over 50% of these students are in the engineering science faculties. The Technical College of Aachen has over 10,000 students and is one of the largest technical colleges in Germany.

 

A life sciences campus is fast developing around the Aachen University

Hospital. The Medical Technology Incubator, which is already on this site and houses 20 companies, will be joined in Autumn 2001 by a biotechnology incubator, specially catering for the needs of biotech companies.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Ms. Verena Kienzle

AGIT (Aachen Economic Dev Agency)

Dennewartstr. 25-27

Aachen

52068

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 241 963 1026

fax: +49 (0) 241 963 1033

 

 

 

Bonn

Bonn is an important location for technology companies moving into Germany. Within Germany it is an ideal location at the intersection of the Rhine-Ruhr and Rhine-Main urban areas. The road network allows access to Cologne and Dusseldorf and the ICE (high-speed) railway station in Siegburg provides fast connections across Germany and Europe and links to the nearby airports of Cologne/Bonn, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt. Bonn is connected via Cologne/Bonn airport to most major European centers.

 

Media and IT are the most important sectors in Bonn’s vibrant economy. Deutsche Telekom and its subsidiaries are located in the area, which is a major factor for companies in the telecommunications sector looking for partnerships. The Telebonn trade initiative is actively promoting Bonn as a key location for global media and IT companies as the convergence of telecommunications, information technology and multi-media occurs.

 

Bonn University, with its population of 38,000 students, is providing a pool of highly skilled labor for the region. Besides the University there are around 400 academic and scientific institutes in Bonn, which elevate the region to being one of the most important research and development hubs in Germany. There are two new universities– the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences in Sankt Augustin and the RheinAhr Campus University of Applied Sciences in Remagen

 

The GMD (German National Research Center for Information Technology) and the recently established caeser (Center for Advanced European Studies and Research) Foundation are developing into an international and applications-orientated research center for leading technology.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Mr Mike Jansen

Strukturforderungsgesellschaft Bonn

Ellerstrasse 58

Bonn

53119

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 228 98 50 30

fax: +49 (0) 228 98 50 333

 

 

Cologne

Cologne (Koln) is the largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, the largest German federal state. Ten million people live within sixty minutes' drive of Cologne and more than twenty million within ninety minutes' drive. There are two major airports within easy reach, from which 200 destinations are served.

 

Cologne is a Media City with a quarter of Germany’s broadcasting employees based there. The media, telecommunications, software and multimedia development industries employ more than 50,000 people in Cologne with 3,000 companies in the media and communication sectors.

 

With more than 63,000 students, Cologne University is the largest university in Germany, with another 20,000 at the city’s Polytechnic. Internationally recognized research facilities in Cologne include the German Aerospace Center, the Information Technology Research Center, Jülich Research Center and three Max Planck Institutes of Neurology, Cultivation Research and Social Research.

 

In addition, there are a number of sectoral initiatives such as BioGenTec NRW, a regional initiative founded in Cologne involving an amalgamation from the fields of business and science, the trade unions, politics and administration in the biotechnology field.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Mr Michael Josipovic

City of Cologne

Office of Economic Development

Stadthaus

Willy-Brandt-Platz 2

Cologne

50679

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 221 221 25765

fax: +49 (0) 221 221 26686

 

 

 

Dortmund

Located in the center of North Rhine-Westphalia, Dortmund is one of the ten largest cities in Germany.

 

The emphasis in Dortmund is firmly on insurance companies and banks as well as on software research, development and distribution. The headquarters of the Continentale Insurance Group, Signal Insurance and Volkswohlbund Assurance are all in the city. The media and communications industry is another growth area in Dortmund with a broad range of high end services covering internet servers, hotline providers and telecommunications technology producers.

 

Investors within the region include UUNET, ITK Telecommunications, Dr Materna and the Busche Group of Companies.

 

There are numerous further education colleges in the region, such as the Dortmund Technical University and the University of Dortmund which was founded in 1968 and has 24,000 students.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Mr Wolfgang Homann

Dortmund Economic Promotion Development Agency

Hohe Strasse 1

Dortmund

44122

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 231 502 2039

fax: +49 (0) 231 502 3717

 

 

 

Dusseldorf

Düsseldorf is the capital of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It is located directly on the Rhine, close to both France and the Benelux countries. The Airport Dusseldorf International is the third largest in Germany and provides access to all important European business centers. The city is also connected to one of the densest motorway networks in Europe.

 

Around 5000 overseas companies have set up operations in the city. The main types of business conducted are trade/services, information/communication technology and advertising and media.

 

In the field of information and communication technologies, Düsseldorf has been one of the leading locations in Germany for years. There are more than 1,500 companies in the sector with a number of foreign central marketing offices such as NTT Japan, Ericsson, Nokia, Oracle and Novell.

 

Düsseldorf has a rapidly growing media and advertising industry. The sector employs more than 15,000 people at State institutions such as the State broadcasting corporation and the German television news agency, but also at dynamic global companies including QVC, the tele-shopping station, CNN, the news channel and BBDO, the biggest foreign advertising agency in Germany.

 

The development of the media industry is also being promoted by “Digital City” – an initiative launched in 1995 with the objective of turning Dusseldorf into a major center for new media activity.

 

Research in the city is carried out at the Universities (Heinrich-Heine-University and College of Advanced Technology) which together have more than 30,000 students and a number of technical academies and research institutes.

 

 

Essen

Essen is the sixth largest city in Germany and the second largest in the Nordrhein-Westfalen region. The international airport in Dusseldorf can be reached in 15 minutes by car. The city has successfully developed from a coal and steel based economy to one powered by the service sector. Essen is a major location for head-quarter operations in Germany. As the number of head offices in the city has risen, so also has the number of accountancy and consultancy practices. The fact that 75% of Essen’s working population is now employed in services in the city is evidence of the size of the sector.

 

In technology terms, the city places emphasis on research in the energy, information and communications, health, environmental engineering and design fields. Essen is also a major health location. The city has developed a number of business and technology parks such as ETEC which is home to over 100 technology companies, particularly in the ICT sector and the Bredeney Office Park which is close to the motorway and airport.

 

The University of Essen provides a source of graduates and a recently established Academy for Information and Telecommunications technology (AIT) trains students specifically on IT related subjects. There is also a high density of education and training facilities for the health professionals, with a course at the polytechnic specifically for business administrators in the health sector.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Mr Klaus Kipper-Doktor

City of Essen

EWG

Lindenallee 55

Essen

45127

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 201 82024 0

fax: +49 (0) 201 8202492

 

 

 

Rheinland-Pfalz

Rheinland-Pfalz is one of Germany's best connected states, with its network of roads, railroads and waterways. Around 40 million people live within an hour's drive and Europe's biggest passenger and freight airport (Frankfurt) can be reached within 30 minutes.

 

Rheinland-Pfalz is the location of Europe's biggest chemical group BASF and of the Spezialglaswerke Schott. Other industrial companies have taken the opportunities and advantages in the area and they include IBM, Boehringer Ingelheim, ITT Automotive, TDK and Eaton Corporation. With the TV stations ZDF, SAT1, 3sat and SWR, Rheinland-Pfalz also plays host as an international media location.

 

Owing to the consistent establishment and expansion of universities as places of learning, Rheinland-Pfalz has developed over the last few decades into a State of science and research. Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz was founded in 1477 and is the State's oldest and largest university. Approximately 29,000 students, including 3,000 from abroad, are trained by more than 7,500 professors and staff. The region is also home to MAMI, the Mainzer Mikrotron of the Institute for Nuclear Physics, a continuous electroacceleration and the TIGRA research reactor of the Institute for Nuclear Chemistry which is used for nuclear chemistry questions in the field of environmental analysis and material science research.

 

Altogether, there are twelve research institutes working in the fields of basic research and development of new technologies.

 

Cities

 

Koblenz

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Dr Gregor Weiner

Investitions-und Strukturbank Rheinland Pfalz (ISB)

Holzhofstraße 4

Mainz

55116

Germany

 

 

tel: +49/6131/985-200

fax: +49/6131/985-299

 

 

 

Koblenz

The city of Koblenz is, alongside Trier, Mainz, Kaiserslauten, and Ludwigshafen, one of the five main centers in Rheinland-Pfalz in Germany and has a population of around 109,000.

 

Koblenz's location makes it a key transport node where important north-south and east-west axes cross. The city is also well served by national and international rail networks. The region lies on the important waterways of the Rhein and Mosel which provide an important proportion of the goods transported. The Rhine harbour, which is surrounded by a large industry park, provides a very good waterside connection for the companies located there.

 

Koblenz is the location of the national department for defense technology. Furthermore Koblenz is an important location for military offices and units in Germany with the main army headquarters for example.

 

Investors include Lucas Automotive, Hoogovens and Stabilus.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Stadtverwaltung Koblenz

Rathausgebaude 2

Gymnasialstrasse 1

Koblenz

56068

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 261 1291951

fax: +49 (0) 261 129 1950

 

 

Saarland

Saarland is one of the sixteen states in Germany. The state has borders with France and Luxembourg which adds to the workforce in the region with 19,000 people crossing the French border into Saarland each day. The region is connected to the German and European railroad network by rapid rail lines and the Saarbruecken-Ensheim airport offers daily and direct flights to major German airports.

 

There are over 20 US companies in Saarland, employing more than 12,000 people. Investors include Land’s End, Depuy, AOL, Allied Signal, Johnson Controls, Ford, Fiber Tech Group Inc, Whirlpool and Intermet.

 

There are five higher learning institutes in the state, all located in Saarbruecken (capital city). The Saarland University alone has a population of 20,000 students enrolled in its five specialist faculties.

Taking the Saarland-Lorraine-Luxembourg area as a whole, there are over 100,000 students in the triangle region’s universities and colleges.

 

Saarland is also home to the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Max Planck Institute for Computer Science and the International Exchange and Research Center for Information Technology.

 

Cities

 

Saarbrucken

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

GW-Saar

Saarland Economic Promotion Corporation

Trierer Strasse 8

Saarland

66111

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 6 81 9965 400

fax: +49 (0) 681 9965 444

 

 

Saarbrucken

Saarbrucken is the capital city of the state of Saarland in Germany. Saarbrucken lies on the Berlin-Frankfurt-Paris motorway and the International Airport runs shuttle services to other cities in Germany. The Frankfurt, Luxembourg and Strasbourg Airports are sixty to ninety minutes away by air and offer international connections.

 

With more than 20,000 students, the University of Saarland ranks as one of the largest Universities in Germany. A Faculty of Technology was recently established to offer courses in information processing, material science, production engineering and electronics.

 

Research institutes housed in the city are the Polytechnic College of Engineering and Commerce, the German Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence, the Max Planck Institute for Information Technology and Associations such as GEMITEC (The Society for the Promotion of Microsystems Technology in Saarland.)

 

Collectively these research bodies guarantee a well-sourced supply of skilled labor for the global investors in the city including Hager Elektro, ZF Gears, AutoSound and Digitec.

 

 

Saxony

Located in eastern Germany, Saxony sits at the junction of Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. It has the most dense rail network in Germany and international airports located at Dresden and Leipzig.

 

Saxony has become a major location for technology companies, mainly located in one of the urban areas of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. Industries particularly well represented are semiconductors, engineering, electronics, optical equipment, environment and printing and publishing.

 

Dresden has become the center of semiconductor activity within Saxony. They have attracted a number of companies involved in producing the basic materials used in modern electronic products. The area was recently boosted by Siemens’ decision to establish what will be the largest and most modern development and production center of its kind in Europe and the American corporation AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) is also investing heavily in the area, along with ABB, Bosch and Philips. This level of activity has encouraged investments from software companies such as Paravision Software from California.

 

The environmental sector has also become a significant one in the region, particularly in Leipzig which is home to the Leipzig-Halle Environmental Research Center.

 

There are four universities in the region in Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz. In total there are 67,000 university-level students, 37% of whom are studying engineering or science subjects. Saxony also has a number of research centers with activities focusing on production techniques, information and microsystem technology, material sciences, medical and biological research and energy technology.

 

Cities

 

Chemnitz, Dresden, Leipzig

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Ms Helga Pratap

Saxony Economic Development Corporation

Bertolt-Brecht-Allee 22

Dresden

1309

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 351 3199 10 00

fax: +49 (0) 351 3199 1099

 

 

Chemnitz

Chemnitz is the forth largest city in eastern Germany with approximately 266,000 inhabitants and around two million inhabitants within an hour’s drive.

 

The city is one of the most successful business, technology and innovation locations in eastern Germany. It has a modern telecoms and IT infrastructure and two airports (Leipzig and Dresden) are within easy reach.

 

Concentration is placed on high-tech sectors, particularly; micro-systems technology, medical technology, environmental engineering and biotechnology, new materials, software, IT services and automation technology.

 

IBM, Siemens and Volkswagen are some of the major names in Chemnitz, together with small and medium sized high-tech businesses and a large number of foreign investors in the local industrial structure.

 

It has a highly qualified and motivated workforce and excellent facilities at the Chemnitz-Zwickau University of Technology and research institutions (such as Fraunhofer, Steinbeiss, Center for Micro-Technologies and the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Micro-Integration.)

 

Technologie Centrum Chemnitz GmbH (Technology Center of Chemnitz - TCC) is the largest and most successful technology center in eastern Germany, providing a closely knit network of suppliers and customers for the automotive, electronic and manufacturing sectors.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Chemnitz Economic Development Corporation

CWE

Zschopauer Strase 48

Chemnitz

9111

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 371 3660 200

fax: +49 (0) 371 3660 212

 

 

 

Dresden

One of eastern Germany's major cities, Dresden has reinvented itself in recent years as a world center for microelectronics.

 

In terms of infrastructure, Dresden possesses one of the most modern telecommunications networks in the world. Its airport is being extended considerably and will soon be able to handle 5 million passengers per year.

 

Sectors of particular relevance to the region are microelectronics and associated applications, telecommunications and information technology, pharmaceuticals, environmental engineering and biotechnologies. Other important branches include precision engineering and apparatus, optical engineering and cameras, aircraft engineering and medical technology.

 

Alongside major companies, such as Infineon Technologies, OHG (formerly SIMEC), AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) and ZMD (Dresden Center for Microelectronics), there are 15 independent research institutes and more than 150 software offices active in this sector.

 

The reputation of the city as a microelectronics center is underlined impressively by "Semiconductor 300", a joint venture of Siemens and Motorola, which is working to develop the manufacturing technology for the new generation of 300 mm wafers.

 

The climate of innovation in the city has encouraged further companies from abroad to settle in Dresden (eg. Applied Materials, ISS Nagano, American Microsystems and Ortner Clean-Room Technology).

 

The Technical University of Dresden is one of the most important universities in Germany. With over 9,000 staff, including 800 professors and senior lecturers and 24,000 students, the TU Dresden is the largest university in Saxony.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Ms Helga Pratap

Saxony Economic Development Corporation

Bertolt-Brecht-Allee 22

Dresden

1309

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 351 3199 10 00

fax: +49 (0) 351 3199 1099

 

 

 

Leipzig

Leipzig is located in the north-western part of the German region of Saxony. It has a motorway and main rail network and an international airport.

 

Leipzig is one of the most important locations for printing and publishing. Germany’s first daily newspaper and first scientific journal were published in Leipzig in the 17th century and major publishing houses such as Brockhaus, Meyer and Reclam are based in the city. It plays host to the Leipzig book fair and has the academic infrastructure to sustain the sector. As well as Leipzig University, the city has a College of Graphic and Typographic Arts.

 

Leipzig has a thriving financial community with more than 100 banks and insurance companies operating out of the city. Other areas of expertise include electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, measurement technology and medical and biological technology.

 

One of the Company’s that has located in Leipzig is Quelle mail-order who decided to build the world’s most modern mail-order dispatch center near the city.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Ms Helga Pratap

Saxony Economic Development Corporation

Bertolt-Brecht-Allee 22

Dresden

1309

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 351 3199 10 00

fax: +49 (0) 351 3199 1099

 

 

 

Saxony Anhalt

Saxony-Anhalt is a region located on the eastern side of Germany. It is a location with a strong industrial tradition, particularly in mechanical and automotive engineering.

 

As well as engineering-based production, the region has become a popular base for call center operations. It also has an active food sector with a number of well-known food companies having their roots and headquarters in the area, including the chocolate-manufacturing firm Halloren Schokoladenfabrik, Nestle, Erasco, Coca-Cola and Schwan’s. The food sector has grown to such an extent that it has now assumed the leading role in industry.

 

The state is home to 136 research centers, university institutes, technical college faculties, Fraunhofer Institutes, Max Planck Institutes, and innovative research facilities aimed at mechanical engineering.

 

Cities

 

Halle

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

WISA Economic Development - Corporation of Saxony-Anhalt

Kantstrasse 5

Magdeburg

D 39104

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 391/5 68 99 0

fax: +49 (0) 391/5 68 99 50

 

 

Halle

Halle is the largest city in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt. The closest airport is located in Leipzig, the ‘city next door.’

 

The industrial pattern of the city area of Halle is composed of manufacturing industries, among them chemical, mechanical engineering, steel and vehicles, plant construction and food.

 

Recent development of Science Parks in the city mean that Halle is well able to offer the investor an excellent location package. In particular the development is aimed at companies in bioengineering, medical equipment, materials engineering, process engineering and environmental engineering.

 

Halle has long been a city of science and innovation. It is the seat of the Leopoldina Institute, a university offering a comprehensive range of subjects in natural sciences and engineering and a technical college.

 

Other academic institutes include the Max Planck Institute , the Bio Center Halle GmbH, the Fraunhofer Institute of Materials Mechanics, the Center for Applied Medical and Human biologics Research (ZAMED) and the Environmental Research Center of Leipzig/Halle.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Dr Heinz Friedrich Franke

City of Halle

Markplatz 1

Halle

6100

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 345 221 47 60

fax: +49 (0) 345 221 47 76

 

 

 

Schleswig-Holstein

Schleswig-Holstein is the most northerly German state bordering Denmark and with access to both the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. The state is well connected internationally, with Hamburg airport within an hours drive.

 

The high-tech sectors, instrumentation and control and optics, as well as printing and publishing are represented more significantly in Schleswig-Holstein than in any other states.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

WSH

Business Develop Corp of Schleswig-Holstein

Lorentzendamm 43

Kiel

24103

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 431 5 93 39 0

fax: +49 (0) 4 31 55 51 78

 

 

Thueringen

As part of the former East Germany, Thueringen is at the center of the reunited Germany. The state’s infrastructure has been completely rebuilt and is now state-of-the-art. The installed fiber-optic cable network is one of the most dense and technically advanced in Europe.

A number of business parks have been developed in the region with a specific industry focus for chemical corporations, microelectronics and optoelectronics companies.

 

Investors in Thueringen include GM, Avery Dennison, Fujitsu, Zeiss and IBM/CSG.

 

Thueringen offers potential investors a young and highly trained workforce. Two out of three workers are younger than 45 years old and many are technically trained. Four nearby universities, seven colleges and 19 research facilities are the breeding ground for excellent qualifications, ideas and innovation. Universities such as the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena and the Bauhaus University in Weimar enjoy a worldwide reputation. The TU Ilmenau is said to be in the top European level of technical universities.

 

Cities

 

Erfurt, Jena

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Mrs Barbara Kupfer

LEG

Mainzerhofstrasse 12

Erfurt

99084

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 361 5603 444

fax: +49 (0) 361 5603 327

 

Erfurt

Erfurt is the capital and largest city of the State of Thuringia in Germany. Erfurt is fast becoming a high-tech center, particularly within the electronics, microelectronics and software development sectors. The main locations for investors are the Erfurt South-East commercial estate with a number of existing high-tech tenants and the Erfurt Technology Center.

 

The region is home to companies such as Moeller,Thesys, X-FAB , Siemens and Philipp Holzmann.

 

A number of logistics companies have also set up in Erfurt in a specially designated Freight Transport Center (GVZ.) On the eastern outskirts of the city, the GVZ combines state of the art logistics with a modern train terminal for cargo traffic. Companies located at the Center benefit from having their production, transport and services all under one roof.

 

Erfurt University is a major asset in the region, along with three other higher education institutes.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Erfurt (Germany)

Office for Promotion of Economy

Fischmarkt 1

Erfurt

99084

Germany

 

 

tel: +49 (0) 3 61 6 55 19 10

fax: +49 (0) 3 61 6 55 19 09

 

 

Jena

The city of Jena in Thuringen, is one of the great success stories of the new Europe. Traditional home of world-renown photography firm Zeiss, this small east German city is a shining example of a new economy tech location.

 

The presence of Zeiss has created a cluster of excellence in opto-electronics and laser technology as well as local strengths in electronics and biotechnology. In addition to Zeiss spin-off companies, new start-ups are coming out of Jena - none more so than Intershop, one of the world’s leading e-commerce operations. Other investors include Jenoptik Microtechnik, Biotech AG and Jenaer Asclepion-Meditec.

 

A vital component in Jena’s success is the Friedrich Schiller University, which is at the forefront of the digital era being only the second university in Germany to create a chair in e-commerce, thanks to close collaboration with local businesses such as Intershop.

 

 

External links

 

Library of Congress: Country Studies

 

Excellent source of historical information about a country; "The Country Studies Series presents a description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world.

 

 

 

other wikis:

 

 

 

Footnotes

  1. by David Galland, Managing Editor, The Casey Report, An interview with Vitaliy Katsenelson

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