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
Mumbai, 10 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. The Minister’s trip to India will also include a stop in New Delhi.
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 Mumbai. “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.”
North Rhine-Westphalia is not just the commercial centre of Germany – it is also one of Europe’s most important locations in terms of the automotive industry. If you factor in all the suppliers from virtually every other industrial sector, the automotive industry accounts for more than 200,000 employees. The skills found in the automotive sector, plus our state’s first-rate technical expertise in the field of energy technology, provide ideal conditions for the conception of innovative solutions. One focal point here is electric mobility. Thanks to the Rhine-Ruhr region and the Münster and Aachen Competence Centers, North Rhine-Westphalia has become a model region for electric mobility. Our aim is to press ahead with research and development in this sector, and to turn North Rhine-Westphalia into Europe’s first large-scale model region. By 2020, there should be at least 250,000 electric cars in use here. “North Rhine-Westphalia is the ideal location for forward-looking companies,” says Thoben. “A fine starting point, and one from which Indian investors can profit. And this area also offers Indian companies and research institutions opportunities for cooperations.”
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.