Focus industries

Major corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups interact with each other and together with research and science, they create synergies and networking effects across sectors. Your company benefits from this, however big it is and whichever sector you’re working in.

Information Technology

There are hardly any sectors left today in which information and communications technology does not play a significant role. Customers of the ICT sector come from the automotive industry, medical technology, financial services and many other sectors. Large numbers of companies in all these economic fields are based in Bavaria. This is one of the reasons why ICT companies also like to choose Bavaria as their location. In a study, the European Commission named Munich the top centre for the ICT segment in Europe. To make sure it stays that way, the Bavarian state government will invest hundreds of millions of euros in digitalisation over the next few years. There are many reasons why Bavaria is one of the world's key ICT locations today.

Around 380,000 people work in 20,000 companies in the sector in Bavaria today. The spectrum of ICT companies in Bavaria is large. International corporations are just as much at home here as small and medium-sized companies and exciting start-ups in the sector, which includes service, development and distribution in the software and hardware fields, microelectronics and telecommunications, embedded software and software-based processes. As well as a broad base of potential customers, Bavaria also offers a large pool of IT specialists, dedicated networks and key trade shows for the sector. Lots of good reasons to choose ICT location Bavaria.

Renewable & Smart Energy

The use of hydraulic power has a long tradition in Bavaria. And other renewable energies are also becoming much more important. Bavaria's energy policy offers companies huge potential for growth.

"12 billion kilowatt hours were generated from hydraulic power in Bavaria in 2010 more than in any other state"

Energy provision in Germany will change rapidly over the next few years. The transition to alternative energies presents great potential for investment and will give a huge boost to energy technology. Bavaria is in an outstanding position and offers energy technology companies ideal opportunities for growth. All the key energy sources are represented in Bavaria: hydraulic power, photovoltaics, wind energy, biomass, solar thermal energy, ambient heat and geothermal energy for electricity and heat generation. Bavaria is leading the way in hydraulic power and generated almost 12 million kilowatt hours from it in 2010 – more than any other German state. By the end of the same year, almost 40 per cent of Germany's total solar power capacity was installed in Bavaria. Wind power in Bavaria is still a relatively small segment compared to the two giants of hydraulic and solar power. The state is therefore working to expand wind energy in a space-saving way that protects the environment and agriculture. One thing is certain: Bavaria will continue to play a leading role in energy technology in future, too.

Health & Medical

Medical technology is a key growth market. The world market currently amounts to around EUR 200 billion and is expected to grow at a rate of more than seven per cent per year. Bavaria's medical technology companies benefit greatly from this. Around 70 per cent of their products are exported to a wide range of countries abroad. Those which remain here find a potential customer base of around 400 approved acute hospitals, 285 prevention and rehabilitation institutions and 47 award-winning spas and health resorts in Bavaria alone.

Medical technology in Germany brings products to market-readiness quickly. The companies in the sector achieve over fifty per cent of their sales with products which are less than three years old. The Medical Valley in Erlangen and the Forum MedTech Pharma e.V., the largest network for the health sector in Germany and Europe, also contribute to this in Bavaria. Bavaria offers ideal production conditions for medical technology, thanks to active sectors whose own production and research are also useful for medical technology, among other factors. These sectors include mechatronics, information and communications technology and the field of photonics and optics.

Transport & Logistics

Bavaria's industrial character offers logistics companies the ideal conditions for making new business contacts. 21.3 per cent of all those working in Bavaria are involved in processing industries – a figure which is well above average. Companies in sectors in which Bavaria is a world leader, such as the automotive and mechanical engineering industries and medical, energy and environmental technology, offer great order potential. Furthermore, eight of Germany's ten largest online retailers have their headquarters or a site in Bavaria. For good reason: southern Germany is home to the biggest-spending consumers.

"36 billion euros sales in logistics in Bavaria"

Bavaria's logistics sector represents sales of EUR 36 billion, accounting for around 18 per cent of total German sales. Employing over 400,000 people, the logistics sector in Bavaria is a real driver of growth. Bavaria offers an excellent transport infrastructure with a road network stretching to 137,000 kilometres and an efficient rail network. Its 24 ports provide an outstanding connection to Europe's most important waterway, the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal. The ports handle around 7.17 million tonnes of freight. In addition, the two largest Bavarian airports in Munich and Nuremberg turn over 350,000 tonnes of air freight.This combined transport approach is supported by efficient terminals and goods transport centres in Augsburg, Ingolstadt, Nuremberg, Regensburg and Straubing.

Automotive

Bavarian innovations made their mark on the automotive sector as early as 1893, when Rudolph Diesel invented his diesel engine in Augsburg. Today, alongside the further development of the classic combustion engine at the highest technical level, it is topics such as electromobility and lightweight design where Bavaria shows its greatest innovative power. Active members of Bavaria's automotive sector include world-renowned premium manufacturers such as BMW, Audi and MAN (commercial vehicles), as well as over 1,100 companies including well-known suppliers such as Bosch Rexroth AG, Brose, Continental, Dräxlmaier Group, Schaeffler, Webasto and ZF Sachs. All significant international automotive suppliers have branches in Bavaria, providing the ideal conditions for automotive production here.

In Bavaria, networks such as BAIKA for international automotive suppliers and the Automotive cluster organise the hugely important networking of various actors who will help to shape the sector's future. Here in Bavaria, excellent materials research meets innovative design and the production of high-performance on-board electronics: all the components for modern automotive production. Efficient driving dynamics, vehicle safety and comfort, and efficiency and flexibility in production are some of the topics dealt with by the Automotive cluster. The expertise generated here benefits the companies in the sector both in Bavaria and worldwide.

Manufacturing

The development and use of new materials are the key to product and process innovations in many sectors, including the automotive sector, mechanical engineering and medical technology. As an interdisciplinary technology, the production of new materials therefore has links to a large number of industries, in which possible customers are waiting for actors from the sector. In Bavaria, these industries with high-tech companies in which new materials are processed are concentrated in material sciences, as is a high level of research expertise.

Bavaria's New Materials cluster initiates joint research projects, gets regional partners involved, networks business and research in the sector and offers targeted cooperation across different technologies and sectors. This allows fundamental principles emerging from research to be implemented in the production of new materials quickly and the materials which result to be used in further production just as fast. New companies in the sector are supported through a large number of initiatives. The Start-up Center of Bayreuth for New Materials (BGZ), for example, offers good-value premises with the latest equipment for start-ups in the sector.