Cool here, but have you ever been to Berlin? The question that will be heard frequently in New York and Boston in the coming days should be formulated in this way or something like that. Because a German business delegation under the leadership of Senator for Economic Affairs Ramona Pop (Greens) has announced itself in the two American coastal cities and will promote Berlin as a location from Monday to Friday.
One of the most important dates on the trip: the opening of a Berlin business agency in New York. “We’re going to open a business office in New York in order to have a presence in one of the world’s leading metropolises and to strengthen cooperation between Berlin and the USA,” Senator Pop told Tagesspiegel before the start of the trip.
Beatrice Kramm, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK), welcomed the new Berlin mission abroad. “One year after opening the business office in Beijing, Berlin is continuing its internationalization strategy and permanently strengthening relationships with the most important target markets,” she told Tagesspiegel.
Senator Pop hopes for intensive cooperation
The delegation includes Senator Pop and IHK President Kramm, 26 Berlin companies as well as representatives of the location marketer Berlin Partner, the IHK Berlin and the tourism agency VisitBerlin. The business delegation’s main focus is on the key sectors of sustainable urbanization and infrastructure, healthcare and the digital economy, the Senator for Economic Affairs announced before the trip. In addition to company visits and business meetings, the focus in Boston in particular will be on linking business and science.
IHK President Kramm believes that there is an area in which the German capital could still learn from New York: “From the point of view of business, there is still considerable potential in the transfer of knowledge from Berlin universities to companies, be it through collaborations or spin-offs from university projects. In the United States, this form of cooperation and mutual exchange is much more common. ”
Senator Pop also sees opportunities for cooperation elsewhere: “We want to intensify our close economic cooperation, for example in the digital economy, but also in the areas of infrastructure, climate protection, mobility, the health industry and tourism,” she said.
USA is the most important sales market
Good business contacts are a must for the capital: Berlin’s exports to the USA recently amounted to 1.8 million euros, which corresponds to a share of 12.4 percent of Berlin’s total exports. This makes America the most important export market for Berlin companies. And by a large margin: Berlin’s companies exported just as many goods and services to the USA as they did to China and France combined, which take second and third place in the export markets.
The most important export goods for the US market were pharmaceutical products (35 percent share of total exports), data processing equipment / electronic and optical products (15.7 percent) and machines (15.4 percent). In 2018 goods worth 732.2 million euros were imported from the USA to Berlin, the most important import goods are other goods (32.4 percent share of total USA imports), data processing equipment / electronic and optical products (15.2 percent), as well as Machines (11.3 percent).
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