Hamburg Invest generates record EUR 828 million investment

Hamburg remains in demand as a business centre both nationally and internationally. Hamburg Invest helped 52 new companies including 25 foreign firms settle in Hamburg and 32 companies expand in the city. The volume of investments in 2022 rose from EUR 752 million in 2021 to a record EUR 828 million. Most of the 960 companies supported were German SMEs (around 600) or start-ups (around 200). Hamburg Invest brokered a total of 12.2 hectares of commercial space to companies last year. Of this, around 3.7 hectares were private and around 8.4 hectares were urban including six sites owned by Hamburg Invest Entwicklungsgesellschaft.

"A good 7,400 people have found a new job or their jobs have been secured. That is great success because we are retaining labour and skilled workers in Hamburg," said Dr Melanie Leonhard, Senator for Economics. Most new jobs were created in the transport, life sciences, energy and logistics sectors. "There is plenty of dynamism in those sectors, and Hamburg is in demand for future industries. Apart from jobs and tax revenue, company relocations also create additional benefits by strengthening Hamburg as a centre of innovation. At the same time, that lays the foundation for further value creation by companies and innovations that raise the quality of life in Hamburg in the long term," Leonhard pointed out.

"Despite the global economic uncertainties and changed financing conditions, Hamburg's business community made strong investments in 2022 as well," said Dr Rolf Strittmatter, Managing Director of Hamburg Invest GmbH. Demand for large areas that can be used for industrial and commercial purposes continues unabated. "Companies need space to implement innovations. Both of these factors advance Hamburg as a business centre. That's why, we explicitly support technology and knowledge-based companies with a high value added per job in their search for suitable space in Hamburg as part of the regional innovation strategy," Strittmatter added.

Hamburg Invest's efforts led to value-added effects of EUR 1.6 billion in 2022, according to an analysis by the CIMA Institut für Regionalwirtschaft GmbH. In addition to direct and indirect investments, people who work in or around the 7,400 new or secured jobs are pivotal as their consumer behaviour creates added value and tax revenue with fiscal effects of around EUR 160 million.

Start-ups in diverse technology sectors continue unabated to request advice from Hamburg Invest's Startup Unit. They can seize the opportunity of an hour's consultation or as they need it. Various events are held to strengthen and market the start-up ecosystem in Hamburg externally. The new online platform "Startup City Hamburg" and the international settlement project "Scaleup Landing Pad Hamburg" were launched in 2022 on behalf of the Ministry of Economics and Innovation. Startup City Hamburg maps Hamburg's start-up ecosystem centrally on one platform and gives an overview of all funding offers. The Scaleup Landing Pad for growing international start-ups is used to attract potential start-ups and to help them set up shop in Hamburg.

Due to the war in Ukraine and the sanctions on Russia, this source market collapsed in the short term last year and will not play an important role in terms of new settlements, the report added. The international investment sector remains under pressure due to the geopolitical situation in Asia and measures undertaken there to contain the pandemic. However, the resumption of travel and congress business after the pandemic is opening up new perspectives.

Activities in source markets such as Singapore, the United States, Britain, Japan, Turkey and Poland have been increased and should pay off in 2023. The focus of acquisition remains on Germany and strategic source markets such as India, Denmark and Britain although the increased costs caused by the war in Ukraine and higher expenses will impact investments significantly in 2023.

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