By Kang Seung-woo
More than 100 Korean companies have advanced into Germany, but most of them are located in Western Germany.
As part of balancing regional development, the German government is stepping up efforts to lure more Korean investment into Eastern Germany, a high-ranking government official said Friday.
“Korean companies have entered many sectors such as automobiles, machinery, semiconductors, information and communications, software, chemicals and plastics, but their interest concentrates on Western Germany,” Christoph Bergner, a secretary of state in the Federal Ministry of the Interior, said in an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul.
According to the German, who turns 63 next week, there are currently 125 Korean companies operating in the eurozone’s largest economy and they are heavily placed in the west including Hessen, Bayern and Baden-Wurttemberg.
“Despite the current high density in Western Germany, I hope the Korean economy will have an interest in Eastern Germany because there will be more opportunities for Korean companies to take advantage of,” said Bergner, who also serves as the federal government commissioner for the New Federal States (NFS).
The NFS refer to the five re-established states in the former German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany that acceded to the Federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany, in 1990.
He said there are two advantages that Korean players can enjoy when they invest in Eastern Germany.
“The area is well known for its various improved technologies, so it has a wealth of knowhow on the automotive and machinery industries. In addition, it is equipped with technology about renewable energies, an area that has been fast emerging of late,” he said.
“In short, Eastern Germany is the place where innovation-heavy technologies are assembled.”
In order to lure more foreign investors, the German government has a variety of support measures prepared.
“The European Union as well as the central government offer incentives to boost the economic standard of Eastern Germany to as high as that of Western Germany,” he said.
The global financial gloom, sparked by the eurozone’s sovereign debt crisis, has shrunk investments across the world, but Bergner said that investments in Eastern Germany will be safe from the current financial turmoil.
“The German government is concerned about possible influences from the financial downturn,” he said.
“However, I do not believe that they will negatively affect the real economy because it has steadily grown, with rising demand and evolving technical innovation.”