How is Bremen made an attractive destination, world-wide?
Investing in BremenBremeninvest creates contacts internationally, agrees cooperative ventures and finds companies that are keen to relocate.
So how do we find foreign companies that might be interesting for Bremen and are also planning to open a subsidiary in Germany? In Andreas Gerber's opinion, as Head of the International Relocation Team at Bremeninvest, "That's like trying to find a needle in a haystack". His team is tasked with marketing Bremen and Bremerhaven as attractive destinations on the international stage, bringing together interested parties for exchanges of information and joint projects and, if necessary, also providing the services needed to help companies to relocate.
Bremen has always thrived on international exchange. As an important harbour city with a strong logistics, industrial and scientific base, in an excellent geographically strategic position, the Federal State of Bremen has a clutch of trump cards in its hand. "Bremeninvest" is WFB's international trading name, with which it makes its presence felt throughout the business world. Although Bremeninvest's activities often take place far away from Bremen, the effects are still long-lasting and positive at a local level.
Internationally active
Sitting back with a nice cup of tea and waiting for an interested company to come knocking on the door is simply not an option. If you want to be successful, you have to take the initiative.
With this in mind, and to make most effective use of the resources they have, Team Leader Andreas Gerber and his colleagues pay close attention to companies in key industries in particular target regions. As outlined in the Federal State of Bremen's Innovation Strategy 2030 plan, the key sectors of greatest interest include aviation and aerospace, maritime trade and logistics, automotive and wind power/renewable energies.
Bremeninvest has its own offices with local contact people in China (established 20 years ago), Turkey (established 11 years ago), Vietnam (established six years ago) and the United Kingdom (established three years ago).
In addition to making local acquisitions, companies from Bremen and Bremerhaven can also use these offices as points of contact for their own activities. Bremeninvest also works closely together with Germany's federal foreign trade and investment agency, Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI), and has been involved with the Northern Germany Innovation Office (NGIO) since 2019. This is a consortium of the German Federal States of Bremen, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein whose joint aim is to stimulate the transfer of innovations and technologies between Northern Germany and Silicon Valley in the USA.
Successful, for Bremen
Bremeninvest works tirelessly to promote the State of Bremen by sending detailed information, structural data and details about its strengths and benefits to the important target groups in selected key countries and sectors, thereby building bridges to new networks and joint projects which can't be expressed in mere figures. But what do the figures actually say?
In the past seven years (2017 to 2023), Bremeninvest has chalked up the following successes:
- 92 companies relocated to Bremen
- They created 359 jobs
- and invested 22.5 million Euros in the Federal State of Bremen
At national level (German-speaking countries such as the rest of Germany, Austria, Switzerland), the figures were:
- 82 relocations
- 1,866 new jobs
- 85.5 million Euros of own investments..
"Companies that come to us from abroad often start off on a smaller scale, just to gauge whether relocation will really work. Many of them then go on to develop and achieve notable success", stated Thorsten Tendahl, Leader of Bremeninvest's business support and relocation team.
With its offices and contacts, Bremeninvest also offers tangible benefits for companies and scientific institutions in Bremen that are looking abroad to find partners for joint projects. As Bremeninvest's Team Leader, Andreas Gerber, said "We're always happy to provide expert information and act as a facilitator". Whether it's setting up a subsidiary, opening a branch office or founding a start-up from abroad, the Bremeninvest team, which is the WFB's international interface, will spring into action.
Travelling and supporting
At the end of the day, it's personal contacts that really count. There are so many ways of starting a conversation: meeting someone at an event/trade fair, a direct call to potential candidates in key sectors, being given a tip by a local Bremeninvest contact person, giving a presentation about Bremen that sparks an interest and request for more detailed information and many more.
Successful self-promotion campaigns usually create many subsequent leads in which the skills of Bremeninvest will be required, said Andreas Gerber. "A visit to Bremen is often the result. Here, we can present the location in detail, set up the first contacts, visit specific sites and facilitate preliminary consultations with lawyers and tax advisors, the Chamber of Commerce or other institutions. If there is a positive decision, this process continues and brings with it a multitude of details, which we will handle with diligence and professionalism."
Trade fairs and events
Bremen's key sectors are well-networked and have an international perspective. Anyone wanting to make acquisitions in these sectors will be looking for international contacts. Thanks to its exceptional expertise in the aviation and aerospace industries, Bremen was once again both host and exhibitor at the "Space Tech Expo Europe", held in its own congress centre in November 2024. This event is regarded as the central meeting point for everyone who is anyone in the European aerospace sector. Bremeninvest used this international stage as an opportunity for exchanging information, making contacts and promoting the city ‒ as it will at the partner event Space Tech Expo USA, next spring, at which Bremeninvest will once again be represented.
The economic development agencies of Germany's Northern Federal States have joined together in a green hydrogen alliance, "HY-5". Working together, they aim to establish Northern Germany as a hydrogen powerhouse. The HY-5 initiative presented its projects at the Hyvolution hydrogen event in Paris at the start of 2023. This trade fair is one of Europe's leading conference events in the world of hydrogen. In March 2023, HY-5 used its presence at World Smart Energy Week, the largest international trade fair of its kind in Asia, in Tokyo, to attract investors and partners.
In addition to taking part in international trade fairs, Bremeninvest also organises its own "info days" in target countries. These presentations give participants the opportunity to find out more about Germany and Bremen as a location. Companies from Bremen itself and businesses from the target countries that are already active in Bremen can all attend these events. As Bremeninvest Team Leader, Andreas Gerber, stated "These info days are often large gatherings, which are extremely well-attended".
Success Stories
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