Gov. Jack Markell will be in Germany beginning Tuesday to strengthen business relationships that now include a manufacturer operating a small plant in Dover.
The meetings, with business representatives from Bavaria and other parts of Germany, come on the eve of Munich’s world-renowned Oktoberfest.
The visit follows this year’s launch of the Department of State’s ‘Global Delaware’ initiative and focuses on the three goals of the program: paving the way for Delaware companies to increase exports, building on Delaware’s global leadership in corporate governance and as a preferred site of incorporation, and promoting the state as a place for foreign companies to expand.
“Success for our state in the 21st century means looking beyond our borders for ways to create jobs and economic opportunity for Delawareans,” said Markell. “In a world where businesses have more choices than ever about where to invest and where Delaware companies have more opportunities than ever to sell their products around the globe, we must ensure that leading international business communities appreciate all that Delaware has to offer.”
The primary goal of the mission is to strengthen ties with the prospering small- and medium-sized companies (known as “Mittelstand”) of Bavaria, and its capital city of Munich, by meeting with individual businesses as well as organizations that represent and support them. The Mittelstand gave been credited with allowing Germany to have the strongest economy in Europe.
Delaware aims to leverage its recently strengthened relationship with German companies, including the research company Fraunhofer, which has a US Biotech headquarters in Newark, and the manufacturer Uzin Utz, which will soon open its first U.S. plant in Dover.
“As a German company that has found Delaware to be a great place to do business, we are excited that the governor is making this trip not only to our home country, but specifically to build relationships in the South of Germany,” said Philipp Utz, president of Uzin Utz Manufacturing North America Inc., a manufacturer of specialty flooring installation products. “Delaware has a lot to be proud of, with a growing business community, a state-of-the-art infrastructure and the ability to offer a skilled workforce. It will be of great benefit to many other German entrepreneurs to learn about the state and Delaware companies will also have a lot to gain from better ties with Germany’s economy.”
As part of Governor Markell’s new export initiative, he will work to develop a network of trade partners for Delaware companies to build on recent success. Germany was one of four key international markets identified as part of the initiative, which focuses on countries with the most buying potential for the products and services that Delaware has to offer.
Delaware exports to Germany have grown by 28.8 percent in the last 2 years. In 2014, Delaware exported $390.4 million in goods and services to Germany. The German economy is the world’s fourth largest, accounting for more than one-fifth of the European Union’s GDP, and Germany is the United States’ largest European trading partner, as well as the sixth-largest market for U.S. exports.
Finally, the Governor will discuss opportunities to increase foreign direct investment (FDI) by Germany in Delaware. Germany invests more than $270 billion per year in the U.S.
Germany is the fourth largest investor in Delaware, pouring in more than $270 million per year as of 2013.
The State delegation, which arrives in Munich on Tuesday and returns the following Monday, will also include:
- Ian Wright, Board Member of the Delaware Bioscience Association who is a German-speaking former employee of Siemens (headquartered in Munich) and an active member of the Delaware business community;
- Lydia Sarson, Director of the German American Chamber of Commerce in Philadelphia;
- Andrea Tinianow, Director of Global Delaware; and
- Michael Marquardt, global advisor to the Department of State
The trip is estimated to cost less than $50,000 and will be the first foreign trade mission in which the Governor is participating since he visited Israel two years ago.
The launch of Global Delaware provides an opportunity to expand on progress from the Governor’s earlier international efforts and has already produced results. The program helped recruit AB Group Packaging Inc., a 30-year-old paper bag and flexible packaging producer with plants in Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom, which is slated to open its first U.S. plant in Delaware this summer, creating 87 new full-time jobs.
In addition, Global Delaware sponsored a mission to Canada so that Delaware farmers could meet with senior purchasing executives of Canada’s four largest retail chains, giving them unprecedented access to key buyers. The Canadian retailers – none of which had bought from Delaware before – all made commitments to purchase produce from Delaware growers.
