BERLIN, Germany, April 17 /CNW Telbec/ - Rising productivity rates,
skilled employees, and streamlined approval processes, are attracting
investors to eastern Germany. This is especially true in photovoltaics (PV).
An investors' reception on April 22nd in Toronto will highlight the region to
Canadian investors as a successful location not only for PV companies, but
also for any company looking to enter the German and European markets.
Ian MacClellan the founder of Arise Technologies, a Canadian PV company
with success in eastern Germany, will be the keynote speaker. The reception,
hosted by Invest in Germany, the country's inward investment promotion agency,
begins at 6:30pm at Jamie Kennedy at The Gardiner, 111 Queen's Park. Invest in
Germany is cooperating with the Canadian German Chamber Industry and Commerce
in Toronto to put on the event.
Arise captured headlines in 2006 when it announced that it would begin
mass production of solar cells in the eastern German town of Bischofswerda in
the federal state of Saxony. The company recently broke ground at its facility
and expects to provide power for up to 60,000 homes through the solar cells
that it will make in Bischofswerda. The company chose eastern Germany, not
only because of available government incentives that covered 50% of investment
costs, but also because of the technical and administrative expertise
available in Germany.
Germany's Ambassador to Canada, Matthias Hvpfner, will also give a brief
speech discussing bilateral economic relations between the two countries.
Canadian companies hold C$9.4 billion in assets in Germany and many Canadian
companies, such as Arise, are experiencing investment success in Germany,
especially eastern Germany.
For example, the Quebec-based renewable energies company 5N Plus will
open a plant for thin-film PV panels in the town of Eisenhuttenstadt, on the
German-Polish border. 5N Plus chose Germany because of the country's skilled
workforce and its easy access to the European market. With 82 million people
and a GDP over 2 trillion Euros, Germany is Europe's largest economy in terms
of both output and population.
Invest in Germany's event in Toronto is the beginning of its three-city
"road show" in North America designed to present eastern Germany to North
American investors and journalists. Following Toronto the "road show" will
travel to the United States hitting Houston, Texas on April 23rd and Atlanta,
Georgia on April 24th.