Foreign investment in Germany holds steady despite challenging environment

BERLIN (Reuters) – Foreign investment in Germany remained stable in 2022 despite the difficult economic situation, data from the country’s economic development agency, Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI), showed on Monday.

Last year, there were 1,783 new settlements and expansions, 23 fewer than in 2021, but 101 more than in 2020.

“Given the adverse circumstances, with the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis and the pandemic aftermath, this is a success,” GTAI managing director Robert Hermann told Reuters on Monday. “Germany remains an attractive location.”

The top investor remained the United States, accounting for 279 projects. “This is remarkable, taking into account the strong promotion of domestic investments in the U.S. with the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA),” Hermann said.

Switzerland followed in second place with 208 projects and the United Kingdom in third place with 170. “Both countries are not members of the EU, but they want a supporting leg there and often choose Germany,” Hermann said.

China landed in fourth place with 141 projects, the smallest number since 2014. “The Corona pandemic definitely had an impact on that,” Hermann said. Business trips were not possible due to China’s zero-COVID policy, which may have made deals more difficult. Beijing abruptly scrapped the policy in December.

Turkey moved up to fifth place with 139 projects, a record for the country.

The value of announced investments rose to 25 billion euros ($27.52 billion) in 2022, a large part of which is due to the commitment of the American semiconductor manufacturer Intel (NASDAQ:), which picked Germany as the site for a huge new chip-making complex, with initial spending of 17 billion euros.

Excluding the Intel investment, announced investments totalled 8 billion euros, exceeding the 2021 result by one billion. “That’s an outstanding figure,” Hermann said.

($1 = 0.9084 euros)

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