External Resources
Shortcuts
Germany Trade & Invest
ABOUT: GTAI is the economic development agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. The organization promotes Germany as a business location and supports companies looking to enter Germany with expert advice.
CONTEXT: Public company under the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
RESOURCES: Business Location Germany
- Corona Crisis and Germany
- Brexit: Expanding to Germany
- Business Climate (Infrastructure, Labor Market Availability)
- Business Opportunities (Mobility, Life Sciences, Energy, Digital Economy)
- Economic Profile (Economic Activity & Structure, Market Reach)
- Foreign Direct Investment (Data, Reputation, Framework)
- Federal States
- General Overview
- R&D Framework (Innovative Power, R&D Landscape, Industrial Potential, R&D Incentives)
- New Federal States & Structural Transformation in Germany
- Testimonials
- Coming to Germany (Visa Requirements)
- Establishing a Company (Company Forms, Business Registrations, Transferring Assets)
- Incentive Programs
- The Tax System (Company taxation, VAT, Taxation of Property, Tax deductions, Tax Return, Customs)
- Employees and Social Security (Finding Suitable Staff, Flexible Models of Employment, Terms of Employment, Termination of Employment, Employee Representation, The German Social Security System)
There also is one in a nutshell type document now (free PDF download): Investor's Basics: Setting up business in Germany
Extramile-Germany View
Good, accurate (official) information. Makes sense to start here if you need to learn the basics on Germany as a business destination.
Worldbank Open Knowledge Repository
ABOUT: The World Bank is an international financial institution, a component of the World Bank Group, and a member of the United Nations Development Group.
CONTEXT: In its open knowledge repository the world bank among many other reports every year publishes economic country profiles in one of their flagship series.
RESOURCES: Doing Business Economy Profile for Germany (current edition: 2020). Additional related information can be accessed via the World Bank’s doingbusiness.org website and is available for virtually every other country in the world.
- Starting a business
- Dealing with construction permits
- Getting electricity
- Registering property
- Getting credit
- Protecting minority investors
- Paying taxes
- Trading across borders
- Enforcing contracts
- Resolving insolvency
- Employing workers
Extramile-Germany View
Worldwide standardized format, available in a clear, condensed PDF layout and updated on a regular basis. Particularly helpful when you want to know how Germany as a target country fares with regard to certain aspects of doing business compared to other destinations. Very useful information on detail procedures of starting a business in Germany as well as related cost.
Destatis - Federal Statistical Office
ABOUT: The Federal Statistical Office is the official provider of statistical information on Germany. Its mission is to provide and disseminate objective and independent statistical information of high quality. Federal statistics are available to everybody: politicians, authorities, businesses and citizens.
CONTEXT: Destatis is a higher federal authority under the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
RESOURCES: Besides its manifold short term indicators there are statistics and short reports on various themes:
- Society and Environment
- Economy
- Economic Sectors and Enterprises
- Labor
- Government
- Countries and Regions
Every chapter under each of the themes above highlights a few key numbers and trends as well as the latest related press releases. By clicking on those numbers you can expand for further information.
Extramile-Germany View
This website presents a whole wealth of information. And it’s not only numbers but it also explains quite a bit of context of current affairs in many of these fields. Apart from finding pieces relevant to you - the challenge is interpreting the abundance of material and deciding what conclusions can validly be drawn from it.
DB Research Spotlight on Germany
ABOUT: Deutsche Bank Research is a Deutsche Bank owned research establishment and think tank. Its mission is to analyze relevant trends for the bank in financial markets, the economy and society and highlight risks and opportunities.
CONTEXT: DB Research is responsible for macroeconomic analysis within Deutsche Bank Group and acts as consultant for the bank, its clients and stakeholders.
RESOURCES: Macroeconomic analysis and analysis of growth trends in Germany. Reports on economic policy issues in Germany and Europe.
Extramile-Germany View
Focus on bigger picture view. Good information for those who’d need / like to dig deeper in economical context of certain business activity related to Germany or Europe.
PricewaterhouseCoopers AG WPG
ABOUT: PwC Germany provides audit and audit-related services (Assurance), tax and legal advice (Tax & Legal) as well as deals and consulting (Advisory).
CONTEXT: PwC AG WPG is a member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited - a multinational professional services network. It is one of the largest professional services firms in the world, and is one of the Big Four auditors.
RESOURCES: "Doing business and investing in Germany" by PwC is a
guide file covering detailed information on doing business in Germany in 13 chapters:
- Germany: a profile
- Economy and Investment Environment
- Regulatory Environment
- Banking and Finance
- Exporting to Germany
- Business Entities
- Labour Relations and Social Security
- Audit Requirements and Accounting Practices
- Tax System and administration
- Taxation of Corporations
- Taxation of Individuals
- Taxation of Partnershops
- Transaction and Excise Taxes
(Current edition reflects the position on January 1, 2018.)
Extramile-Germany View
"An indispensible reference work covering everything you need to know about doing business in Germany" it says on the cover of this excellent PwC document and in this case it’s almost true: A guide file extremely rich in information.
GINSEP (startup network)
ABOUT: The German Indian Startup Exchange Program (GINSEP) is a non-monetary platform initiated by the German Startups Association and supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) to strengthen and foster the German-Indian economic relations in the field of startups. The main aim of the GINSEP is to promote an exchange between both startup ecosystems.
CONTEXT: GINSEP’s Go-To-Market guide lays out the main steps and challenges to open up a subsidiary office in Germany. The guide is meant to provide transparent information that helps both founders and investors to understand the German startup ecosystem and to navigate the bureaucracy. It presents a number of expert essays on the following fields:
RESOURCES: Go-To-Market Guide Germany
- Country Overview Germany
- The European Single Market
- Tax System in Germany
- Legal Basics
- Recruitment & Hiring in Germany
- Setting up a accompany in Germany
- Financial Reporting and Auditing in Germany
- Business Culture in Germany
- Personal legal status in Germany
- Insurance for startups and founders in Germany
- Digital Hubs in Germany
- Finding German Business Partners – Mittelstand meets startups
- Access via Accelerators
- Financing for startups in Germany
Extramile-Germany View
This guide is a good starting point particularly if you are a start up from India as some of the short essays are written from the point of view of an Indian entrepreneur who has so far not had any form of permanent representation in Germany.
KPMG Business Destination Germany
ABOUT: KPMG is multinational professional services network and another one of the Big Four accounting organizations. KPMG has three main lines of services: financial audit, tax, and advisory.
CONTEXT: KPMG's biannual survey “Business Destination Germany” (current edition 2022), examines Germany’s most important characteristics as a business location in an EU comparison.
RESOURCES: KPMG Business Destination Germany is an investing guide on Germany presenting the findings of a survey of foreign corporations' German subsidiaries. Discussed topics include:
- Assessment of Germany as a business location
- Current economic situation
- Characteristics of business location Germany
- Germany as a key member of the EU
- Foreign investment in Germany
Extramile-Germany View
Different (sometimes critical) view on investment decisions in Germany based on the sentiment but also real life experience of the international investors surveyed. Interesting take on current economic outlook and Germany's role in the bigger EU picture.
AUMA (Trade fair industry)
ABOUT: AUMA is the (umbrella) Association of the German Trade Fair Industry. It represents the interests of exhibitors, organizers and visitors to trade fairs.
CONTEXT: AUMA is a membership association as per German law (e.V.). Its members include the German trade fair and exhibition organizers, associations of the manufacturing industry, retail trade, wholesale and foreign trade, crafts and agriculture as well as the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce.
RESOURCES: There is a section with useful information on the industry and tips to assist with your trade fair preparations. In fact, AUMA has a whole, so-called MNC (Messe-Nutzen-Check; English: Trade Fair Benefit Check) online tool to assist you planning, calculating and evaluating a trade fair participation depending on your particular situation and purposes.
The key area on this website is their trade fair database though with information on some 5,000 exhibitions. For German ones go to sub-section Germany (Find your trade fair) which can then be accessed through a query interface.
It can be searched by event title, organizer, date, location and/or by industry. If you do not know what industry the product or service you are looking for is placed in, you can find it using the industry search term option.
Additionally one can filter by:
- International category
- National category
- Regional category
referring to what circles of visitors respective events usually attract - as well as
- Special category for specific industry themes and
- New(ly) added ones.
Extramile-Germany View
Their database is a good resource. The query result pages display the key facts on the respective trade show event and also link out to its corresponding website which can then be accessed for detailed information.
The benefit check tries to help you do a cost-benefit analysis and quantify a potential investment (in a fairly structured, German kind of way). More interesting for companies seriously considering exhibiting in Germany rather than making a visit.
Kompany.com
ABOUT: Kompany’s website provides easy access to verified international business information, including Germany. Kompany helps small and medium-sized enterprises to check international business partners.
CONTEXT: Kompany is a commercial service provider and private limited company.
RESOURCES: This service provider offers Companies House information, Credit Reports and Company Checks.
Kompany is an official contracting partner of the Common Register Portal of the German States; the official and registered Clearing Office of the Republic of Austria; distributor of the European Business Register (EBR) as well as the Swiss Federal Commercial Registry Office, the UK Companies House and the Irish Companies Registration Office.
Standard searches can be done online right away and basic information is free of charge.
UPDATE: The service now requires to register with a valid email address first and to log-in accordingly when you come back the next time.
Extramile-Germany View
Though basic company information can usually also be obtained from the official commercial registers - Kompany is a neat aggregator and often easier to access. Additionally various other company specific reports can quickly be purchased online (those at a charge then, however).
Facts about Germany
ABOUT: Facts about Germany offers reliable basic information and guidance on various aspects of modern life in Germany – especially designed for readers abroad whose interest in the course of time in / with Germany extends beyond the casual flood of daily news.
CONTEXT: The website is a service by a private media and publishing company based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany - in cooperation with the Federal Foreign Office, Berlin, Germany.
RESOURCES: Throughout 14 chapters, different authors present a selection of important political, societal and economic trends in Germany:
- At a glance
- Germany and Europe
- Political System and Federalism
- Working in Germany
- Education and university
- Research and innovation
- Peace and security
- Climate and energy
- Media and communication
- Migration and Integration
- Sustainability and environment
- Global trade partner
- Culture and art
- Living in Germany
Extramile-Germany View
Not of all of this is strictly business related but still an appropriate source to fill in some context information. Every piece is short and easy to understand. It’s available in 8 international languages and there are additional (trustworthy) links embedded which may take you further.