Adrian Bernhard, Managing Director
SBS Technologies GmbH&Co KG
Bavaria - an El Dorado for high-tech companies For SBS Technologies, Inc., a US company that develops and produces computers for use in industry, telecommunications and aerospace engineering which have to operate extremely reliably and without breaking down in the most inhospitable of conditions such as outer space the high-tech state of Bavaria offers a whole range of advantages as the headquarters of its European operations.
On the one hand, there is the proximity to our customers: many large organizations from the fields of industry, telecommunications and aerospace engineering have established themselves in the high-tech region of Bavaria. As our products are often tailor-made to customers specifications, short communications routes, i.e. proximity to the customer, play a decisive role.
On the other hand, Bavaria is situated in the very heart of Europe and has an excellently developed infrastructure. Distances to other places in Europe are relatively short, so we can cater for the whole European market from our branch office in Augsburg.
In order to be able to develop and produce such complex high-tech products as our industrial computers, we need a highly qualified workforce and pool of suppliers. And they too are available in Bavaria. As a result we could always find suitably qualified employees for our development department in Augsburg and our production facility in Mindelheim. Owing to the large number of suppliers in our immediate neighborhood, we are sure of flexible access to top-quality goods and services.
And on top of that, it should not be forgotten that Bavaria also has high recreational value, offering the people a very wide range of amenities for their individual leisure pursuits as a counterbalance to the good working conditions.
As a result of these facts and the good conditions that Bavaria has to offer, we succeeded in generating over 74 percent growth in Europe in the financial year 2003/2004 despite the difficult situation prevailing in the industry worldwide. In order to maintain this positive trend, we intend to further expand our facilities in Augsburg and Mindelheim."
Andre Witschi
Chairman of the Board of Accor Hotellerie Deutschland GmbH
Bavaria - a first-rate location for Accor
The Accor Group altogether has 4,000 hotels worldwide and in Germany is the market leader with currently 285 hotels of all categories. Bavaria is of enormous importance to Accor: the company has 44 hotels here and provides jobs for 1,200 people. 14 hotels are located in Munich, the German headquarters of Accor.
Accor relies on the future of this location and believes its potential will continue to grow - as demonstrated by four new hotel projects in Munich alone. With its excellent infrastructure and economic momentum as well as the many scenic and cultural attractions, Bavaria will gain further in importance in the years to come. And we are of course also looking forward expectantly to the 2006 World Cup football championships.
Our wish for the future is that Bavaria will continue to make its significant contribution to securing Germany's position as a leading tourist destination. This also includes recognizing the great political importance of the tourist industry to prosperity in Germany and creating the prerequisites for ensuring that it remains globally competitive."
Dr. Yves Rommel,
Managing Director of Eurospace Technische Entwicklung GmbH
"For the past two years, Eurospace has been recording its highest growth rate in Munich: thanks to the diversified potential offered by Bavarian industry, especially in the automotive and telecom sectors, we have despite the crisis still managed to continue developing on a number of different levels: product support through the various phases of its life cycle, project management, strategic advice in the acquisition of technology know-how, etc.
Growth prospects for Eurospace and in particular for our Munich office are very positive despite the poor state of the economy."
Dr. Toru Otsu, President & CEO
DoCoMo Communications Laboratories Europe GmbH
"The underlying reason motivating our company to choose Munich as the location for our European research activities, is - apart from the fascinating city with its pleasant climate and excellent infrastructure - a fertile environment for cooperation with technical universities and a highly qualified labour force, which is an indispensable factor for advanced researches.
In addition to the excellent infrastructure and human network, Munich with its location right in the heart of Europe, is the turntable for international mobility."
