North Rhine-Westphalia’s location marketing campaign “We love the new…” is being launched in India / Around 100 Indian companies already present in North Rhine-Westphalia
New Delhi, 11 March 2010 – North Rhine-Westphalia is soliciting investments in India. At a press conference marking the start of a trip to India lasting a several days, Christa Thoben, Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, introduced the region’s location marketing campaign, “We love the new…”, with a view to interesting Indian companies in North Rhine-Westphalia as a location.
Innovation and a cosmopolitan approach are the focal point of the campaign, which was launched in October 2008 and positions Germany’s most densely-populated federal state as a leading economic region within Europe. India is one of the campaign’s target countries. “India is an important trading partner for North Rhine-Westphalia,” said Minister Thoben at the press conference in New Delhi. “And we intend to keep strengthening that trade and investment in the future, making an already close collaboration closer still.” In 2008, external trade between India and North Rhine-Westphalia came to around 3.5 billion euros, and has tripled over the past eight years. “There remains considerable untapped potential here.”
In North Rhine-Westphalia, mechanical engineering is a core area of the region’s economy and its biggest industrial employer, with more than 230,000 employees working in around 1,750 companies, most of which are medium-sized. In 2008, these companies generated around 54 million euros in turnover. The largest companies in this field include such names as Claas, GEA Group, Gildemeister, SMS and ThyssenKrupp. Mechanical engineering features more prominently in the region’s tradition of innovation than any other sector. A dense network of higher education institutions with institutes geared towards production engineering provides scientific support for industrial endeavor, and constitutes a rich fund of potential that is renowned the world over. A fine starting point, and one that can be of benefit to Indian investors too – to say nothing of the plentiful opportunities for cooperation that are open to Indian companies and research institutions.
There are more than 10,000 Indians living in North Rhine-Westphalia. Around 100 Indian companies have already invested in North Rhine-Westphalia, including well-known names like Amtek, Essar Steel, Kalyani Group, Mahindra & Mahindra, McNally, Sona, Suzlon and Tata. “North Rhine-Westphalia is becoming a favourite location for investment for Indian companies in Europe,” says Petra Wassner, C.E.O. of NRW.INVEST. And plenty of noted North Rhine-Westphalian companies already have offices in India, including internationally known groups and medium-sized companies such as Bayer, Dorma, Henkel, Metro, Oetker, Pierburg, SMS Siemag or ThyssenKrupp.
To introduce itself and mark the launch of the campaign “We love the new...” in India, North Rhine-Westphalia is bringing in an English-language website, an image film and ads in influential Indian media. In addition, Michael Schumacher, seven times Formula 1 World Champion, will also feature in print ads tempting Indian investors to come to North Rhine-Westphalia.
For more information about North Rhine-Westphalia’s location marketing campaign, please visit: www.welovethenew.com
About NRW.INVEST India/Pune
The representative office of NRW.INVEST in Pune provides Indian companies with information on NRW as a business location, its environment and investment climate, legal and social conditions, as well as about cities and locations, trade fairs, and market opportunities in North-Rhine Westphalia. It is the initial point of contact for Indian companies intending to invest in NRW and provides companies interested in setting up a business with local advice, to smooth their path into North Rhine-Westphalia.