Markets Germany Special Edition 2020 – States of Flux
More than 30 years have passed since the fall of the Berlin Wall. During this period, Germany has been transformed in many ways – and it is still changing.
May 20, 2020

Structural change can have many faces. It might come rather slowly as a consequence of shifts in a region’s major industry and emerging new technologies. Or it might be more rapid and unexpected, for instance in the aftermath of historic events.
Thirty years after German reunification, many regions in eastern Germany are still undergoing structural change. The economy in the West is also changing, for a variety of reasons – Including digitalization, Germany’s own transition to clean energy, and global business trends. Many eastern and western German states have taken ‘ownership’ of these disruptions and turned them into opportunities to change for the better.
Investors from Germany and around the world are discovering lucrative business opportunities in this structural change. And Germany has many inspiring success stories. In this special edition, we share one from each of the 16 German federal states. For instance, how chemicals and bioplastics have taken over from coal mining in Brandenburg, how a huge green hydrogen plant will transform the Heide region in Schleswig-Holstein, and how the city of Ilmenau in Thuringia transitions from traditional industry to a high-tech economy. All the case studies have one thing in common: The chances of success are greatly increased when investors and other local players collaborate to make progress and effect change.
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Structural Change = Creative Solutions
Structural change in Germany offers foreign investors a myriad of opportunities. Marco Wanderwitz, the Federal Government Commissioner for the New Federal States, explains how the state supports foreign direct investment.

Incentives: Let It Grow
Project financing incentives are available to all investors and are provided by the German government, the federal states, and the E.U. to support business growth. Germany Trade & Invest advises large companies (turnover €50m+) and SMEs.

Bremen’s Rockets
European launcher hails from the Hanseatic city.