5/13/2008

Bavaria still attractive as a top business location for foreign investors / Good recruitment figures in the first quarter of 2008

Müller: "Bavaria is the first choice for businesses from all over the world!"

MUNICH International companies still think very highly of Bavaria as a top industrial location. By the end of the first quarter of 2008, Invest in Bavaria had already brought as many as 21 new businesses and expansion projects to a successful conclusion. According to current company sources, they have created close on 1,000 new jobs in the State of Bavaria. "These further good recruitment figures demonstrate impressively that Bavaria is the first choice for companies from all over the world, when it comes to making investments. With our impressive success rate in the first quarter, we could follow on seamlessly from the record year of 2007", Bavaria’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Emilia Müller, was delighted to comment. Last year, Invest in Bavaria had successfully managed 118 investment projects, creating some 3,100 new jobs in the State.

"But it is not only foreign companies that are convinced of the qualities the State of Bavaria has to offer, domestic firms also believe in their State. Many companies are once again relying more heavily on the quality and flexibility of production in the top business location of Bavaria", Müller continued to underline. This was also confirmed by a recently published study conducted by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, which shows for example that in the last few years the relocation of production facilities in the metal and electrical engineering industry has dropped by a good fifth. While in 2003 one in every four companies in this sector was moving parts of its production abroad, it is now only one in every five. The trend is also similar for relocations back from abroad. Every one in six relocations is set off by a move back. The picture is particularly clear in the automobile industry, where for every three companies outsourcing their pro duction there is one moving their facilities back.

Economics Minister Müller is confident: "The positive trend will continue. The chances of 2008 being another record year for recruitments are very good. We will also carry on doing all we can to make Bavaria as attractive a business location as possible for companies from Germany and abroad. So that in future we can still say: Bavaria’s Head Start: Growth – Prosperity – Full Employment!"

Source: Invest in Bavaria