Brandenburg State’s Economics Minister Wolfgang Fürniss Reaches Out to ‘Global Partners’

Dr. Wolfgang Fürniss, Brandenburg’s Minister of Economic Affairs

What in your view is the primary reason that a foreign company should locate in Brandenburg?

There are several very good reasons for foreign companies to locate in Brandenburg. Brandenburg is situated in the center of the new Europe, surrounding the metropolis and German Capital Berlin. This area lies at the crossing point of the West-East-axis Paris-Berlin-Moscow and the North-South-axis Stockholm-Berlin-Vienna-Rome.

Brandenburg and Berlin complement each other almost ideally. There is the metropolis with its booming service sector, its universities and unique concentration of research institutions and its cultural highlights. And around Berlin the wide open spaces of Brandenburg are perfect for recreation on the one side and, of course, for space-intensive industries on the other side.

The Capital Area Berlin-Brandenburg with its six millions consumers is set to become one of the most dynamic economic regions in Europe. And the region is going to play a more important role in the future as the European Union will be widened towards the East. Then Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovenia will become part of one common European market and free trade zone.

The region will get a springboard-function to these new markets. Brandenburg serves as a gateway between Eastern and Western Europe. That makes Brandenburg an obvious attractive location for strategic investors.

A new international hub is going to be established with the Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport by the year 2007, so you can reach our region very easily from all over the world.

And not to forget: In the Capital Area intercultural competence is guaranteed as almost 13 % of the population in Berlin have non-German passports.

Apart from its world-class infrastructure and its ideal vantage-point for Europe’s future markets Brandenburg offers unrivalled investment incentives. The government is able to offer grants, tax deductions and support for qualification-programmes allowing investors to retrieve up to 50% of costs.

And – last but not least – it’s very easy for investors to inform themselves about the conditions to get these incentives: The ZukunftsAgentur (Brandenburg Economic Development Board) is the first "one-stop-agency" in Germany truly deserving its name. The ZukunftsAgentur offers support in all questions of economics and innovation out of one hand. More and more Brandenburg becomes a land of short distances for investors and companies. That makes companies stronger, which want to expand, and helps investors, that want to come to Brandenburg.

Several incentive programs are currently available from the Land Brandenburg to promote business development? Will all of these programs be available in 2002?

Our running programs consist mainly of capital investment grants, federal tax allowances, infrastructure grants, technology & innovation grants (including grants for media, information and communication technologies), marketing support and venture capital.

• All companies, no matter which size, can receive grants of up to 35 percent of their total capital investment or – under certain conditions – their expenditures for wages, if they develop, set up, extend, convert or purchase a plant in Brandenburg. The maximum figures also depend on the investment location. Small or medium-sized enterprises are eligible to receive grants of up to 50 percent.

• In addition, the German federal government provides for a tax allowance of 10-20 percent on specific types of investment in Brandenburg. Dueto EU-regulations, the total of all subsidies for an individual company (such as grants, tax allowances etc.) must not be higher than 50 percent.

• Furthermore projects focused on economic infrastructure, such as business-parks or tourism, are eligible to receive a one-time grant of 50 percent, also depending on the development location.

• Additionally, the State of Brandenburg provides a technology and innovation grant for research and development and for introduction of new technologies, especially media, ICT and e-business-projects.

• Renewable energy source grants are available of up to 20 percent of the project's cost.

• The state also runs a venture capital-program for either high-tech start-up companies or general SME with solid growth potential.

All incentives will still be available in 2002.

In which sectors do you see the greatest opportunity for future employment and economic growth in the Land Brandenburg?

One of our strongest sunrise industries is the sector of technology. Though it’s competitive on international markets today, it will be even stronger and will become more important in die next years. The focus in this sector is lying on biotechnology, transport technology, information and communication technologies and new media.

Especially in this year we did big steps of progress: One of the biggest biochemical factories in Germany could be located in the South of Brandenburg, the internet-auction house eBay opened its Germany center in Brandenburg – directly before the doors of Berlin. Again in the South of Brandenburg – in the Lausitz-region – a production-plant for aircraft engineering is growing up. And the American software-giant Oracle comes to Potsdam with its internet sales division.

Also on a good way is the Chip-fabrication, which will be build up in Frankfurt (O.) in the eastern part of Brandenburg and which will guarantee – directly and indirectly – labour for nearly 3.000 people.

A motor of innovation is the media-location Potsdam-Babelsberg. In the film studios Babelsberg – which have a long tradition in producing films for TV and cinema – were produced such international successful productions like "Enemy at the Gates" from Jean-Jacques Annaud or "The Pianist" from Roman Polanski. The success shows that the way the studios are going is the right way. Over that the media-location is prepared for the digital age.

Another very important sector of growth is the tourism. From January to August 2001 came 6.9 percent more visitors than in the first eight month of the last year, which was the best year for the travelling-country Brandenburg since the end of the GDR. This shows that our concept of qualifying our offers and destinations – more quality than quantity - is right and we will continue on this way.

A locomotive of growth is the industrial production of Brandenburg with air and space industry, steel production and chemistry. The industrial sector could double its profit in export from 1995 to 2000 – a proof that products made in Brandenburg have a continued better standing on international markets.

There is no alternative to further allocation of our economy. I actually see many opportunities to join forces with other strong global partners. For that reason we have opened representative offices in Dubai, Singapore, Detroit and Moscow – in the most promising and influential regions worldwide. The task of these offices is to open doors for smaller and medium sized companies that want to act on international markets on the one side and to win foreign investors for Brandenburg on the other side. —