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North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) region is regarded
as the “economic powerhouse of Europe” and is the most important region for
manufacturing and also investment between
Germany and the UK and vice versa. The capital of
this region is Düsseldorf and set out below
are a few statistics on this impressive bit of
Europe with approximately 18 million
inhabitants.
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Cities
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30
cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants
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Location
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NRW
is bordered in the west by the Netherlands and
Belgium, and is encircled by the German states of
Niedersachsen, Hessen, and Rheinland-Pfalz
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Traffic
infrastructure
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6
international airports, extensive network of
motorways, roads, and railway lines, Europe's
largest inland port
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Economic
output
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Gross
domestic product: Euro 455 billion (approx 22% of
Germany’s GDP)
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Industry
structure
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Machine
construction, metal goods industry, electrical engineering/ electronics, and chemicals are the
largest industrial sectors
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Company
structure
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Around
700,000 companies, of which 685,000 small and
medium-sized enterprises, 23 of Germany's 50
largest companies
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Employment
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8.3
million jobs of which 70 per cent on the service
sector
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Foreign
trade
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Exports:
around Euro 107 billion, imports: around Euro 117
billion
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Foreign
investment
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Euro
85.7 billion (early 2000)
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Fairs
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Four
large international fair and exhibition venues
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Research
and education
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53
universities, 21 research institutes, 69
technology centres
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Culture
and leisure
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over
150 theatres, 600 museums
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Event articles |
A day with the British Army (2009) |
Although
23 of the top 50 largest German companies ( banks and
insurance companies not included) such as E.on, Bayer,
Henkel, ThyssenKrupp, Bertelsmann, Ford and Deutsche
Telecom are based in this region, NRW is still a state
of and friendly to small and medium sized businesses
along with young and innovative start-ups.
The NRW region has
its roots in heavy industrial, steel and coal
mining which can be mainly found around the Ruhr Area;
however the region has
over the years experienced a rapid development in
the media and communications sectors. Many of the
leading German telecommunication providers have chosen
NRW as the location for their headquarters such as
Vodafone, Deutsche Telecom and E-plus.
It
also is a leading fashion centre with Esprit and Wallis
choosing to base their headquarters in the region. Also
some of the largest trade fairs take place in the
region ( mainly in Düsseldorf and Cologne such as MEDICA
and ANUGA and the world’s largest shoe fair).
Not only is NRW a first class business location, it
is also a good place to live and study. There are
excellent restaurants and bars as well as the
architectural attractions such as Cologne Cathedral and
Schloss Benrath.
Regional
Chairman:
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Guy Street
Deloitte & Touche GmbH
Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, Düsseldorf
Tel.: +49 (0)211 87 72 38 73
Fax: +49 (0)211 87 72 21 45
E-Mail:
gstreet@deloitte.de
Internet:
www.deloitte.de
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Dear
Reader,
The NRW region provides an extensive events
programme for its members throughout the year.
These include a gala dinner in January, business
breakfast meetings, training seminars, visits to
local companies and an annual symposium. Photos of
our events may be seen throughout the editions of
BCCG News and further details of our events
programme may be seen on this website (event
calendar).
Our membership base is extensive and includes
large conglomerates, SMEs and innovative start up
companies as well as students and retired
individuals.
We are always on the lookout for new members;
further details of which may be found on our
website www.bccg.de.
Alternatively please send us your details
and we shall do our best to persuade you to join our
first class regional network!
Guy Street
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