Baden-Württemberg remains an attractive investment location for foreign companies. According to the state's own economic development agency, Baden-Württemberg International (bw-i), the German Southwest attracted 365 foreign settlement projects last year, which is comparable to 2018 (363 projects). In total, about 5,600 foreign companies are currently based in Baden-Württemberg.
"In global competition, we score high with our strong position in the industrial sector and in future-oriented areas such as Industry 4.0, sustainable mobility or artificial intelligence, our business-oriented research facilities and our high potential for skilled employees. This mix is the basis for our attractiveness to foreign investors, which is also not being challenged by the Corona crisis", said Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Economic Affairs, Labour and Housing, on the publication of the 2019-results.
As in previous years, Switzerland ranks first among the countries of origin of foreign investments with 111 projects in 2019 (2018: 104). Due to its proximity to the border, Switzerland has traditionally been a close economic partner of the German Southwest. Switzerland is being followed by the USA with 38 (2018: 38), China with 22 (2018: 22), Austria with 22 (2018: 21), Italy with 20 (2018: 15), France with 19 (2018: 17) and Great Britain with 17 projects (2018: 20).
Concerning the sectors that prove to be most attractive to foreign investors, the mechanical engineering industry takes the lead with 64 projects, followed by the information and telecommunications technology sector (46) and the consumer goods industry (34).
"The ongoing success in foreign investments as well as the strong presence of international companies in the state prove that the innovation location Baden-Württemberg enjoys a very good reputation among foreign investors worldwide", says Jürgen Schäfer, Managing Director of Baden-Württemberg International.
In addition to the 365 settlements of last year, there were also 71 company takeovers in the area of foreign investment and 16 minority shareholdings at the location of Baden-Württemberg.
One of last year's direct investments came from Farasis, an American-Chinese battery cell manufacturer for electric vehicles with around 3,500 employees worldwide. Founded in Silicon Valley in 2002 and now headquartered in China, the company opened its European battery technology centre in Frickenhausen in the Stuttgart region in 2019. The investment amounts to around 16 million euros and will create a total of 100 jobs in research and development.
Notice: bw-i is adjusting the communication of the figures for foreign investment in Baden-Württemberg to the publications of the federal economic development agency Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI) and will focus on settlements only from 2019 onwards. This includes new settlements as well as the expansion of foreign companies within the German Southwest. For both bw-i and GTAI exclusively support the settlement of companies. However, in recent years, bw-i has communicated the number of foreign direct investments as the sum of all settlements, company takeovers and minority shareholdings. bw-i will report company takeovers and minority shareholdings, which are regarded as an indicator of the attractiveness of companies from Baden-Württemberg, separately in future.
Foreign settlements in Baden-Württemberg in 2019
