CLICK HERE or on photo above to see Mr. Lütke Daldrup discuss investment opportunities in eastern Germany.

More than half of all foreign direct investment that has entered former East Germany since collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 has come from U.S. companies, and the Invest in Germany agency thinks there are plenty of opportunities for more.

Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, Germany’s commissioner for new federal states, visited Atlanta in April as part of a program promoting the new federal states of eastern Germany as a destination for foreign investment.

Although many U.S. companies have discovered former East Germany as an appropriate base to access Western as well as Central and Eastern Europe, Dr. Lütke Daldrup told GlobalAtlanta in a video interview that the extent of the region’s rapid economic development still is not widely recognized.

He said that he wanted to visit the U.S. South because this region also has advanced rapidly, and the economic advances of the new federal states would be of interest to representatives of companies based here.

As a positive sign of economic improvement, he pointed to an increase in revenue from the region’s industrial sector of more than 10 percent in 2007.  Exports from the region, he said, also grew by some 15 percent last year.      

Aside from investments by U.S. and companies from other countries, eastern Germany has benefited over the past 17 years from massive investments made by the German government in infrastructure projects, which were considered key to transforming the region’s underdeveloped condition after communist rule.

In addition to being commissioner, Dr. Lütke Daldrup also serves as state secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs, and has kept a close eye on the development of the region’s infrastructure projects.

These include, he said, six-lane highways tying the region’s major cities such as Berlin, Dresden and Leipzig together, high-speed trains and improved waterways.

“Many West Germans who visit eastern Germany now think that the infrastructure in the East is better than that of the West,” he said.

From 1995-2005, he served as Leipzig’s deputy mayor with responsibilities for urban development and building.

During this 10-year period he played an important role in attracting major international corporations such as BMW, Porsche and DHL, the global logistics company owned by Deutsche Post World, to the city.

U.S. companies such as Dell Inc., Dow Chemical Co., eBay Inc. and General Motors Corp. also have invested in the region providing a strong foundation for its development.

To further encourage foreign direct investment, the German government is providing investment grants and incentives including tax-free allowances for the purchasing or construction of plants and buildings.

The government also has put in place labor-related incentives such as recruitment and training support as well as wage subsidies. In addition, research and development programs can receive benefits from the European Union and the federal and state governments.

Dr. Lütke Daldrup underscored the emergence of new economic sectors in the region including aerospace, automotive, logistics, medical, solar power and other forms of energy production.

Invest in Germany, the inward investment promotion agency of the German government, arranged for Dr. Lütke Daldrup’s visit to the South, which also included a visit to Houston.

Dr. Lütke Daldrup was interviewed at the Biltmore Hotel on West Peachtree Street where he spoke at a gathering of business leaders.