The most densely populated state of Germany, North Rhine Westphalia (NRW), is aggressively wooing Indian companies to invest there.
NRW Invest Germany, a state-owned economic development agency, has also launched a campaign, “We love the New”, to promote the region as an investment hub.
Several mid-sized Indian companies have already shown interest in investing in the region. External trade between NRW and India stood at 3.5 billion euros (about Rs 21,805 crore) in 2008.
Petra Wassner, CEO, NRW Invest said the global financial crisis had little impact on bilateral trade. “There has been no major impact of the slowdown on both NRW and India,” Wassner said.
While about 100 Indian companies such as Mahindra and Mahindra, Essar Steel, Suzlon, Tata Group and Kalyani Group are already present NRW, German majors like pharma major Bayer and fast moving consumer goods giant Henkel have India presence.
Besides, over 10,000 Indians have made NRW their home.
NRW Invest aims to provide first hand information related to the legal and tax structure to business houses that seek to invest in the region. It also helps in planning projects and identifying areas of investment. The agency also assists existing businesses in expansion.