NEW FEDERAL STATES
According to the state-owned KfW Banking Group, public and private investment in Eastern Germany since 1991equates at around EUR 1.6 trillion; during which time the bank itself financed one in every ten euros invested in Eastern Germany - providing EUR 100 billion in loans for SME investement alone.
Outstanding research and development facilities and business partnerships also make a significant contribution to the economic success and attractiveness of the new federal states. Chief among the rapid development of a number of forward-looking industry sectors are the region's thriving renewable energies, nanotechnology, biotechnology, health care, and ICT sectors. By building on teh traditionally strong industrial heritage of the federal states in the east, Germany has become an international force in the technologies and markets of the future. The success of the Eastern Germany reconstruction project can also be indirectly measured in inward investment terms: foreign direct investment (FDI) in stock levels in the region have almost tripled during the past decade alone. Eastern Germany provides access to a sophisticated logistics infrastructure which allows investors to serve established western European markets and burgeoning new markets in the east from a central location.
Generous financial support programs created after reunification had a profoundly positive impact on the economy and the revitalized region now provides access to state-of-the-art logistics and communications networks that guarantee the best possible access to markets. The most important investment grant program is the Joint Task for the Improvement of Regional Economic Structures (GRW). The GWR is a national inventives program which administers direct subsidies for investment projects in specific areas. The level of eligible GRW support available is set according to geographical location. Large companies can receive up to 20 percent of their eligible investment costs reimbursed; medium-sized companies up to 30 percent and small companies up to a maximum of 40 percent of eligible investment costs The maximum support areas are located in Eastern Germany.
Today, more than 27 years after the fall of the wall Eastern Germany is an ideal business location that satisfies all of the fundamental requirements for successful international investment.
